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Must be impeach of a hand page: 1 link Mingling through some thoughts tonight on thoughts of current events and the next president. No matter who wins, there will be plenty of baggage being brought into the White House. Between tapes and recordings being uncovered to Wikileaks and Project Veritas, corruption and ethical immoralities run deep in both candidates. The drips and leaks from both ends of the mudpit seem to be coming to a fever pitch. Will it end on Nov.9 or will there still be more. Could each side be holding on to a real key piece of damning material to have our future POTUS impeached? This brings up the choices of VP. Kaine and Pence. Now I could just be a tad ignorant here, but I've never heard of either one of them. I understand that they've had minor roles in government however the choices struck me as odd. Were these two possibly chosen for them? Are they the backup plan?
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Paul Lepage, the Tea Party disaster that happens to technically be the governor of Maine, just keeps finding bold new ways to prove he isn t qualified to hold his job. I say he is technically the governor of Maine because the word itself implies governing as in working and doing a job. LePage does virtually none of that.The latest crusade of stupidity he has embarked upon is the outright refusal to perform his constitutional duty and swear in a new state senator, who recently won a special election. This leaves people of his state without representation in their capitol and shows yet again why the phrase tea party automatically disqualifies from any position of authority in any job.Susan Deschambault, a Biddeford Democrat, won a special election for the Senate District 32 seat on Tuesday. She traveled to the capitol with her family to be sworn in, only to be told the governor refused to do it. His reason is even worse than his behavior. LePage won t swear her in because of a totally unrelated issue where the senate has rejected the confirmation of the governor s nominee to the state s unemployment insurance commission.Deschambault literally has NOTHING to do with any of this, but he is denying her the ability to do her job, denying her constituents representation, denying Maine a fully-functional state house and violating his oath of office as governor just because he is an overgrown child who wants to have a tantrum.Tea Partiers are not the brightest bulb in the room normally. However, this move really is beyond reason even for them. We have a sitting U.S. governor who is literally holding his own state s ability to govern itself hostage until he gets his way. Mario Moretto, the spokesman for state senate Democrats, has said that the senate is looking for alternative methods of installing Deschambault into her office. The state attorney general also gave a statement that she is aware of the situation and that alternative methods are being sought, but she declined to comment further on the matter.Featured image via YouTube screen capture
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THERE MAY BE SOME THAT WOULD CHANGE A FEW OF THE DESCRIPTIONS BUT THIS IS PRETTY DARN CLOSE:
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Barbara Bush recently accompanied her youngest son to a campaign rally in New Hampshire, and judging from his performance she probably wishes she d stayed home! Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush tried to make a joke about his childhood and instead turned it into an incredibly awkward moment for his entire family. Even worse, he made his mother look like a child abuser.Talking to his supporters, Jeb commented on how many people tell him how much they love his mother. Jeb s mother smiles in the audience, but quickly starts to look uncomfortable as she hears her son say, She s not as great as everybody thinks she is. I can tell you that one. He continued: I jokingly say, that when we were growing up in Midland and Houston that mom was fortunate not to have a child abuse hotline available, because the discipline of learning right and wrong was her doing. Jeb then goes on about how amazing of a man his father, former president George H. W. Bush, was and almost chokes up while doing so. You can watch this disaster of a family moment play out below: Bush has told awkward stories about his family before even about the father he speak so favorably about. Last year, Bush disturbed a bunch of middle schoolers by venting to them about how his fear of disappointing his father would send him into a deep depression for days. And to this day, it seems that Bush is still reliving his childhood struggles. Last night, Bush and his mother gave an interview with CNN, which resulted in even more crippling family criticism. During the interview, Bush s mother actually started giving Jeb advice on how he should be running for President, and shamelessly pointed out his weaknesses. Accusing the media of not mentioning Jeb nearly as much as the other GOP candidates because he is a non-person, she said that Jeb was too nice, too polite and needed to interrupt more. As this was happening, Jeb looked completely defeated and helplessly sat in silence.Featured image via Gage Skidmore and CBS screenshot
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Blacks in America are seeing the writing on the wall with the push for mass immigration to America and it s not a pretty picture. Barack Hussein Obama, America s first black president will do more to harm the black community in his reckless attempt to create a one-party system in America than any President in the history of the United States.The unnamed activists representing the Lost American Network group makes some great points: We in the black community We have seen videos of (Senator) Hall calling other organizations out there that are predominately white, racists. We would like to send a message to him. We feel that he is not representing the black community, so therefore, we feel that he is racist. We wanna know why black politicians like him have turned their back on the black community. Unemployment is up to 70% Mass immigration takes away jobs and benefits from the black community. Mass immigration takes away medical care and housing assistance for the homeless.Watch her outstanding message to Congressman Hall here:
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The top Democrat on the House committee investigating Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton s use of a private email system released an email exchange Wednesday between former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Clinton in which he advised her on circumventing State Department servers.The exchange between Clinton and Powell, two days before the start of her tenure as secretary of state, shows Clinton asked him for advice on the use of a BlackBerry. He responded with multiple tips, saying he used a personal computer for government and personal business that wasn t going through the State Department servers. Powell said, I even used it to do business with some foreign leaders and some of the senior folks in the Department on their personal email accounts. The emails were cited in the FBI s notes from their investigation into Clinton s and her aides handling of classified information during her time at the State Department. According to The Wall Street Journal, the FBI quoted some, but not all, of the conversations between Powell and Clinton.Clinton has told federal authorities she didn t follow Powell s guidance, even though she used a private email account to handle government business. FBI Director James Comey recommended no charges be brought against Clinton, but said that she had been extremely careless with classified information.What exactly Powell advised Clinton to do had been a matter of debate, and Powell even recently suggested Clinton s allies were trying to pin the controversy on him. Democrats released the full exchange in a bid to show that Clinton s predecessors did not use official email accounts.In his Jan. 23, 2009, response to Clinton, Powell said he used a personal computer and a PDA.The latest release appears to show that Powell acknowledged he exchanged work-related emails with foreign leaders and State Department officials using a personal device. He said the setup allowed him to bypass the government s computer network. The release of the email by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. came on the eve of a House Oversight hearing in which Republicans are expected to focus on Clinton s use of a private email server and whether the State Department had been forthcoming with Freedom of Information requests.However, Cummings came down on Republicans accusing lawmakers of holding Clinton to a double standard during the investigation into her private email server. If Republicans were truly concerned with transparency, strengthening FOIA, and preserving federal records, they would be attempting to recover Secretary Powell s emails from AOL, but they have taken no steps to do so despite the fact that this period including the run-up to the Iraq War was critical to our nation s history, he said.Read more: FOX News
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SYDNEY (Reuters) - A second group of about 30 refugees held in Australian-run detention centers on South Pacific islands will leave soon for resettlement in the United States under a controversial refugee swap deal, a U.S. official said on Tuesday. The first group of 22, including men from Bangladesh, Sudan and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, left one of the camps on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea on Sunday. They were due to board a plane from Port Moresby to Manila later on Tuesday on their way to the United States. Beverly Thacker, public affairs officer for the U.S. embassy in Papua New Guinea, said a second group would leave soon from the other center on the tiny island of Nauru. I understand the group of refugees from Nauru will fly via Port Moresby before traveling on to the United States on Wednesday, she said. Australia agreed on a deal with former U.S. President Barack Obama late last year under which up to 1,250 refugees held in the Australian camps will be offered residency. In return, Australia agreed to resettle several dozen Central American refugees. Those refugees were expected to arrive in Australia within weeks. U.S. President Donald Trump has described the deal as dumb but begrudgingly said he will honor it. Concerns persist, however, that many of the refugees in the Australian-run camps will not be offered U.S. resettlement, with the Trump administration vowing that only those who satisfy extreme vetting will be approved. Nearly 2,000 men, women and children are held on Manus island and Nauru, where most of them have been awarded refugee status. Despite their refugee status, many of those on Nauru and Manus island have been held for four years in conditions widely criticized by the United Nations and human rights groups. Under Canberra s hardline immigration policy, asylum-seekers intercepted at sea trying to reach Australia are sent for processing on Manus island and Nauru and are told they will never be settled in Australia.
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Washington (CNN) Americans are increasingly unhappy with President Barack Obama's handling of ISIS, and a growing share of the nation believes that fight is going badly, according to a new CNN/ORC survey released Monday.
Fifty-seven percent disapprove of his handling of foreign affairs more broadly, and 54% disapprove of how the President is handling terrorism. Another 60% rate Obama negatively on his handling of electronic national security.
The declining approval ratings for Obama on national security come as a weekend of international turmoil further underscores the growing threats abroad.
Obama issued a statement condemning the killing of the Christians on Sunday night, though Obama's Republican opponents have consistently made the case that the growing Islamic State threat is exacerbated by what they see as his weak leadership.
In the poll, Americans increasingly believe the U.S. military action against ISIS is going badly, with 58% saying so in the latest survey, up from 49% who said the fight wasn't going well in October.
Even among Democrats, nearly half — 46% — say things aren't going well in the battle against ISIS.
And about half of respondents, 51%, say they trust the President as Commander-in-Chief of the military.
But with ISIS affiliates continuing to commit brutal, gruesome murders and multiple terrorist attacks abroad grabbing international headlines over the past few months, support for sending ground troops to Iraq and Syria to confront the threat appears to be growing.
The survey suggests Americans are warming up to the idea of sending ground troops to combat the terrorist organization.
In November, just 43% supported deploying ground troops, while 55% of Americans opposed it; now the number in support has ticked up to 47%, the highest level of support yet measured, with just half of Americans opposed.
Still, the parties have become more polarized on the prospect since November, with 61% of Democrats opposed and a similar majority of Republicans supportive of the prospect, an eight-point increase. Independents, meanwhile, are split, with 48% in favor and 50% opposed.
The prospect of sending in ground troops remains a sticking point for both congressional Democrats and Republicans in the debate over Obama's Authorization for the Use of Military Force, which would give him legal authority to combat ISIS.
But the AUMF, and Obama's decision to go to Congress for the official authority to continue battling ISIS, is widely popular, according to the new poll.
Seventy-eight percent of Americans say Congress should give Obama the authority to fight ISIS, a slight decline from 82% who supported it in December. A similarly large majority say Obama was right to ask Congress for the authority, rather than proceeding with the battle unilaterally.
The survey was conducted among 1,027 adult Americans from Feb. 12-15, and has a margin of sampling error of 3%.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton’s memoir about her failed attempt to win last year’s U.S. presidential election will be called “What Happened,” a declaration rather than a question, her publisher said in the run-up to its September 12 release. Among the things the Democratic nominee will say happened are sexism against the first woman to be the presidential candidate for a major U.S. party and “an unprecedented assault on our democracy by a foreign adversary,” according to publicity material from the publisher, Simon and Schuster. Staff in Clinton’s campaign and at Democratic party headquarters saw thousands of their internal emails stolen and published online last year. U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Russian intelligence agencies stole the emails as part of an effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin to foil Clinton’s chances of becoming president. Putin has denied the charges, and U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed doubt about the conclusion of intelligence agencies he oversees. In a tweet on Thursday, Clinton said, “Writing ‘What Happened’ was hard, so is what we see every day. As we move forward & fight back, I hope this helps.” Clinton has at times faced intense scrutiny by the media and political opponents for more than 25 years since her husband, Bill Clinton, successfully sought the U.S. presidency in 1992. “In the past, for reasons I try to explain, I’ve often felt I had to be careful in public, like I was up on a wire without a net,” Clinton wrote in the book’s introduction. “Now I’m letting my guard down.” Despite polls showing the former secretary of state was expected to triumph in the election last November, Clinton won only 227 electoral college votes to Trump’s 304. She won the popular vote by about 2.9 million votes. Since then, she has made a handful of speeches and public appearances while working on the book. In April, she told the Women in the World Summit in New York City that she had no intention of running for another public office and that she was writing a book that, in part, delves into what derailed her attempt to become America’s first woman president. “For people who are interested in this, the nearly 66 million people who voted for me, I want to give as clear and as credible an explanation as I can,” she said. Clinton has also faulted the manner in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under director James Comey, investigated how she managed her email, some of which involved classified information, when she was secretary of state. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, told the Washington Post last week, “When you lose to somebody who has 40 percent popularity, you don’t blame other things — Comey, Russia— you blame yourself.” Clinton and Trump were the most unpopular U.S. presidential candidates in modern polling history.
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WASHINGTON — He didn’t see it coming. Speaker Paul D. Ryan was in a hotel room in Cincinnati last May when he learned that Donald J. Trump — a man he barely knew, with no institutional ties to his party and a mouth that had already clacked his nerves — had secured the Republican nomination for president. Mr. Trump had recently lost the Wisconsin primary, which Mr. Ryan and other Republicans in the state thought would presage the reality television star’s demise. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas had made strides, and Mr. Ryan thought the campaign would snake into the summer. But he badly miscalculated. The ensuing path, from Mr. Trump’s securing the nomination to Mr. Ryan’s decision not to have the nominee appear with him at a rally in Wisconsin a month before Election Day, has been jagged and treacherous, marked by brief moments of hope that Mr. Trump could be controlled, followed by the sinking realization that he could not. Mr. Ryan heard the persistent — at times desperate — appeals of Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee and a fellow Wisconsinite, and the angry calls from his rank and file, and neither could move him closer to Mr. Trump. Now, Mr. Ryan finds himself in a singular abyss, desperate to maintain the voter enthusiasm needed to preserve Republican control of Congress, yet unable to defend his party’s presidential nominee. If Mr. Trump is defeated on Nov. 8 — as Mr. Ryan has all but conceded — but Republicans maintain their House majority, it will fall largely to Mr. Ryan to piece the rubble of his party back together. There is, of course, the question of whether House members would let him do so. The Republicans’ crisis would have an early reckoning with the House decision on whether the speaker should be Mr. Ryan — whose beliefs in free trade, tolerance toward immigration, changes to entitlement programs and conservative governance have long been Republican orthodoxy — or a new brand of leader who embodies Trumpism. Democrats have moved quickly to paint Mr. Ryan as spineless and calculating for not outright rescinding his endorsement of Mr. Trump, while the right flank in his own party has taken a polar opposite view, saying Mr. Ryan should not publicly criticize the nominee. On Saturday, Mr. Ryan’s office added to that criticism of Mr. Trump, if indirectly, trying to tamp down the nominee’s talk of a “rigged” election. “Our democracy relies on confidence in election results, and the speaker is fully confident the states will carry out this election with integrity,” said AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Mr. Ryan. For his part, Mr. Trump has been unsparing in his disparagement of Mr. Ryan. Last week, in a series of Twitter posts, he called Mr. Ryan “our very weak and ineffective leader,” who was lending “zero support” and “should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee. ” For now, the speaker spends his days treating Mr. Trump like a disgruntled former employee bent on Twitter revenge, essentially ignoring him. Instead, he gives speeches about the tax credit and the evils of Hillary Clinton, while furiously raising money for suddenly endangered House Republicans. “Right now his objective is crystal clear,” said Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma, “to retain the Republican majority in the House. In that effort he has helped members of the Freedom Caucus as well as those in the Tuesday Group and everyone in between,” he said, referring to the most conservative and most moderate members. “We will worry about our internal differences after the election. Right now we are in a bar fight and every Republican is worth saving. ” That Mr. Ryan and Mr. Trump were never natural allies is understandable. They had met only once before the business tycoon decided to run for the White House, an encounter at a in New York during the 2012 campaign. Mr. Ryan was Mitt Romney’s running mate. Their paths would not cross again. “Trump really wasn’t on Paul’s radar screen,” said A. Mark Neuman, a Ryan friend for two decades. “Before this presidential race, there was almost no intersection in their lives,” he said, noting that Mr. Trump did not share Mr. Ryan’s passions for the Green Bay Packers, hunting, church, intense workouts and Midwest life with children. The relationship showed strains from the start, with Mr. Ryan alarmed by Mr. Trump’s rhetoric and nationalistic appeals. The speaker decided to offer a policy agenda with no connection to Mr. Trump for other Republicans to embrace, a move almost during a presidential campaign. “If we try to play our own version of identity politics and try to fuel ourselves based on darker emotions, that’s not productive,” he said. He made calls to several of the Republican presidential candidates to outline the agenda Mr. Trump feigned mild interest but they did not speak again. (The Trump campaign did not return emails with questions for this article. Mr. Ryan also declined to be interviewed.) Mr. Ryan had hoped that Mr. Trump would eventually embrace his plan. When Mr. Trump clinched the nomination in May, Mr. Ryan was rattled, said several people who talked to him that day. “The conventional wisdom among the people we talked to here was, ‘Don’t worry, this will end,’” said Charlie Sykes, a former conservative talk radio host in Milwaukee and a friend of Mr. Ryan’s. “So it was a huge shock. I think a lot of us here believed we were going be the firewall in Wisconsin, that there would be an outbreak of rationality. ” With campaign rhetoric getting increasingly contentious, Mr. Ryan made the unusual choice of announcing that he was not ready to endorse Mr. Trump. None of this pleased Mr. Priebus, who prided himself on building the modern Republican Party in Wisconsin and longed for unity going into the race against Mrs. Clinton. In text messages and phone calls, Mr. Priebus tried to persuade Mr. Ryan — who was relishing his independence — to accept Mr. Trump, said numerous officials with knowledge of the exchanges who requested anonymity to discuss internal party matters. Mr. Trump would yell at Mr. Priebus and in turn Mr. Priebus would needle Mr. Ryan. When that did not work, Mr. Trump claimed Mr. Ryan had agreed to endorse him before a visit to Capitol Hill to try to woo fellow Republicans, a claim Mr. Ryan viewed as a serious breach. “That was the first realization that Trump wasn’t just a public persona,” said a Republican involved in planning the meeting, who insisted on anonymity so as not to alienate Mr. Trump, “but that his staff does not deal in good faith. ” In June, after a period of relative silence on Mr. Trump’s part, Mr. Ryan finally felt comfortable enough to endorse him. Staff members of both men began to coordinate for the Republican National Convention. But days later Mr. Ryan aggressively criticized Mr. Trump for his remarks about a Hispanic judge. Another outburst, and another brick on the wall was laid. “He was genuinely just outraged after all those comments,” Mr. Sykes said. A bright spot came in July, when Mr. Trump chose Indiana’s governor, Mike Pence, who has long been close to Mr. Ryan, as his running mate. Privately, Mr. Pence tried to assure skeptical Republicans that he would impose Mr. Ryan’s policy agenda if he and Mr. Trump captured the White House. Then in August, Mr. Trump toyed with endorsing Mr. Ryan’s opponent in a primary. Mr. Ryan, for his part, went on with his summer, serving as the chairman at the convention, where his role was unusually diminished. He watched Mr. Trump’s acceptance speech from a sky box. Mr. Trump called Mr. Ryan a handful of times after the convention, once to tell him about his choice of Mr. Pence, and to seek debate advice, which Mr. Ryan said focused on preparation. (Not heeded.) By the fall, Mr. Ryan had basically stopped speaking Mr. Trump’s name. The nominee made a request through the R. N. C. to campaign with Mr. Ryan, whose team agreed to invite Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence to an event this month in Wisconsin. Then came the tape of Mr. Trump making vulgar and lewd comments about women in 2005. Mr. Sykes let Mr. Priebus know via text that Mr. Trump was no longer welcome in Wisconsin. Mr. Sykes said Mr. Priebus responded: “I am the guy trying to fix this! I am in tears over this. ’” (A spokeswoman for Mr. Priebus acknowledged that he was upset, but denied any tears.) Mr. Ryan agonized over his options. Ultimately, he chose not to withdraw his endorsement to keep Republicans motivated to vote, which still angered some of his conference. “I think they ask far too much of the speaker,” said Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah, who has renounced Mr. Trump. “His job is to help House Republicans. Period. ” Mr. Ryan will soon find out if those members of his party who support Mr. Trump might come after him in the next speaker election. “We knew they had extreme views and you kind of rolled your eyes and said they were on our team,” Mr. Sykes said. “How much damage could they do?”
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GERMANY: Syrian Muslim invader shouting “Allahu Akbar” disrupts church wedding, gropes statue of Virgin Mary A newlywed couple claims their big day was ruined when a Muslim illegal alien burst inside the church shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and then started tearing down wedding decorations, laughing wildly, and fondling a statue of the Virgin Mary. ( Maybe he had a ‘sexual emergency?’ ) Karmel Church in Duisburg UK Daily Mail (h/t Brenda K) Groom Marcel Lohbeck, 35, and bride Friederike were celebrating their wedding with 90 guests in the Karmel Church in Duisburg, a city in western Germany . Lochbeck said: ‘At the beginning of the ceremony, a man with a thick jumper and a hat on came into the church and sat in the back row. ‘Shortly afterwards, he stood up and wandered around the candles. He laughed in a disturbing manner and then fondled the statue of Mary. ‘He had been speaking in Arabic and partly English. He then started destroying the flowers and kept shouting “Allahu Akbar”.’ Police officer Ludger A., 57, the uncle of the groom, reportedly tried to intervene along with the church sexton. The officer said: ‘We tried to calm the Syrian Muslim invader.’ After the man again refused to leave the church, there was a fight in which the police officer got slight injuries to his face. Yet he managed to restrain the man until his colleagues from the Duisburg police could arrive. After a medical examination, the 23-year-old Syrian was taken to a psychiatric hospital. Well, at least he didn’t destroy the statue and urinate on it as Muslims did HERE :
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court appointee Neil Gorsuch said on Friday that he does not share what he acknowledged was currently “a lot of cynicism about government and the rule of law.” Gorsuch, the newest member to the nation’s top court, spoke about the value of an independent judiciary during an evening event at Harvard University that also featured fellow Justice Stephen Breyer. Gorsuch reflected on how the “government can lose in its own courts and accept the judgement of those courts without an army to back it up.” He said 95 percent of all U.S. cases are resolved at the trial court level, with few reaching the appellate level or Supreme Court, a fact that he said indicated that litigants were satisfied that justice had been done. “I know a lot of cynicism about government and the rule of law, but I don’t share it,” he said. Gorsuch, whose confirmation to the lifetime job restored the court’s conservative majority following Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in February 2016, formally joined the Supreme Court on April 10. Gorsuch served on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before Trump nominated him in January. Trump was able to fill the vacancy after Senate Republicans last year refused to consider President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland. Breyer, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and is a member of the liberal wing of the nine-member court, stressed during his comments the value of international values. “The values you are talking about are very widespread across the world,” he said. “Interest in democracy, human rights and so forth and rule of law.”
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DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar s foreign minister said on Wednesday that his country was willing to negotiate an end to a Gulf diplomatic rift but had seen no sign that Saudi Arabia and other countries imposing sanctions on Doha were open to mediation. Kuwait and the United States are trying to heal a bitter dispute between Qatar and four Arab countries that has damaged business ties and disrupted travel for thousands of citizens in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Emirates severed political and trade ties with the small gas-rich country on June 4, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the charges. A visit this week to the UAE and Qatar by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov showed no signs of having eased tensions among the Gulf Arab powers. Qatar maintains its position that this crisis can only be achieved through a constructive dialogue ... but the blockading counties are not responding to any efforts being conducted by Kuwait or other friendly countries, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told reporters in Doha on Wednesday at a news conference with his Russian counterpart. The UAE s ambassador to the United States, Yousef al-Otaiba, in an interview with U.S.-based magazine the Atlantic on Monday, said his country would negotiate with Qatar so long as Doha did not set any preconditions for talks. Sheikh Mohammed said on Wednesday Qatar planned to bolster trade with Russia, one of the world s biggest gas exporters, and that Qatar could no longer rely on neighboring states to support its economy or guarantee food security. Lavrov said if face-to-face negotiations started, Russia would be ready to contribute to the mediation and that it was in Russia s interest for the GCC to be united and strong .
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Security camera footage captured Mary, an 81-year-old woman, being assaulted by a man at a bank ATM machine in Aurora, Ontario.The man waited for Mary to finish her transaction, then went for her money. Mary fought back with spunk, in an effort to make sure security cameras captured his image. Her attacker has since been arrested.Statement from York Regional Police:THIS GUY, WHO VIOLENTLY ROBBED AN 81-YEAR-OLD LADY IS STILL ON THE LOOSE. We need your help to ID him. If you have any information on who this violent suspect might be, please call our investigators at 1-866-876-5423 x7141. Investigators with the York Regional Police #1 District Criminal Investigations Bureau are releasing surveillance video of a violent robbery of an 81-year-old lady and seeking public assistance to identify the suspect. On Monday, July 31, 2017, shortly before 7:30 p.m., police were called to a bank located at 15252 Yonge Street, which is in the area of Yonge Street and Wellington Street, in the Town of Aurora for a report of a robbery. Investigators have learned that the 81-year-old victim used an automated teller machine to withdraw money. When the transaction was complete, an unknown man approached the victim and tried to grab her money. The victim resisted and the man pushed her to the ground and stole her money. The suspect fled the area on foot. The victim was taken to hospital suffering from non-life-threatening injuries. Investigators are releasing surveillance video of the attack and images of the suspect and are seeking public assistance to identify him. Suspect: Male White 5 7 Brown hair Wearing a white T-shirt, dark-coloured cargo shorts and black sunglasses Anyone with information is asked to contact the #1 District Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-866-876-5423, ext.7141, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, leave an anonymous tip online at www.1800222tips.com, or text your tip to CRIMES (274637) starting with the word YORK.
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Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination Thursday when a ragtag group of unbound delegates announced they were going to support him. All the networks ran with breaking news and trained their cameras on an empty podium for hours waiting for Trump to appear before the press and bak in his glory. It was a magical moment. True, everyone had known for weeks now that Trump was going to be the nominee since all of his rivals have dropped out of the race but why let that stand in the way of an opportunity to obsess over his every incoherent insult and rant? As they waited, the big topic of conversation among the TV chatterers was an interview by Howard Fineman with Trump’s campaign chairman and chief strategist Paul Manafort. And it was admittedly a doozy.
When I wrote about Manafort earlier I concentrated on his long history of working with slash and burn political consultants and foreign tyrants. He is uniquely qualified to head up Trump’s operation. But it’s been a while since he’s been involved in American politics and it was unclear if he had lost his touch. The interview with Fineman raises more questions about that than it answers.
Fineman quotes Manafort saying that he thinks this election will be a cakewalk:
That’s the kind of confidence one would expect of a Trump adviser. But it’s a little bit weird considering he also says “you don’t change Donald Trump. You don’t ‘manage’ him.” That sounds like a contradiction in terms — if they can’t “manage” Trump then it’s hard to see how this race isn’t going to be a challenge since the man is a walking time bomb.
Manafort made some policy news by saying that Trump was likely going to “soften” his policy on banning Muslims explaining that this was just a negotiating stance. The truth is that Trump himself has said that before. But at this point, he has been on so many sides of every issue nobody can keep track so it means something when his chief strategist validates one of them.
It’s also the case that if there’s one issue which the GOP establishment particularly wants Trump to back away from it’s the Muslim ban. There are good reasons for this, of course. It’s UnAmerican for one thing although that would not normally bother Republican officials. More likely it’s that they actually recognize that Trump’s idiotic, unworkable proposal is so inflammatory that it’s going to get people killed. Unfortunately, once they are back home campaigning they’re going to hear from their Trump-loving constituents that this is one of their favorite policies. If these officials have any integrity, which is unlikely, they will try to educate their voters about how dangerous it is but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
According to Manafort, Trump’s other big crowd pleaser, “the wall”, will be built come what may and he will not “soften” his stance on immigration. He was spinning like a top — or he really is out of touch — because he told Fineman that it’s only in places like New York and California where the American Latinos are all radicals who care about such things. In Ohio and Florida they’ll be happy to vote for Trump.
That is delusional. According to recent national polling by Latino decisions, he has an 87% unfavorable rating. In Florida, he does better than he does nationally. Only 84% of Latinos view him unfavorably. In Nevada, a state which he dishonestly claims voted for him in huge numbers in the primary and uses a proof of his tremendous appeal among Latinos, he also has an 87% unfavorable rating. Manafort thinks they will be able to turn that round by talking to them about jobs, national security, terrorism and education because their concerns are the same as white families. Of course white families aren’t concerned about having their friends and relatives rounded up and dumped in the Sonoran desert which Trump has indicated he thinks is a terrific idea. Latinos are certainly concerned about terrorism. But they may define it just a little bit differently than Trump does.
Manafort said that Trump was unlikely to choose a woman or a racial or ethnic minority for VP because that would be “pandering.” That would be very wrong, needless to say. Unlike Trump tweeting out a picture of himself eating a “taco bowl” from the Trump Tower grill on Cinco de Mayo saying he “loves Hispanics”. But then the job of Vice President is going to be very, very important in a Trump administration according to Manafort, so they aren’t going to take any chances: He needs an experienced person to do the part of the job he doesn’t want to do. He seems himself more as the chairman of the board, than even the CEO, let alone the COO.” I guess nobody’s told Trump that you don’t get to write the job description yourself. I’m pretty sure the job of president is to be the one who makes all the big decisions. It’s not the person who just calls Fox and Friends, negotiates the trade deals and bombs the shit out of ISIS. You don’t get to pick what presidential duties you “want to do” and delegate the rest to your peons. Sure, some presidents like Reagan and George W. Bush were less hands-on than others but they didn’t redefine the presidency as a Chairman of the board who picks and chooses the duties he spends his time on. In the end, it probably doesn’t matter what Manafort says anyway. The campaign is all over the place, with infighting and jockeying for position among the various players. This week Rick Wiley, the highly experienced political operative Manafort brought on board just six weeks ago was let go in a power struggle with a Florida campaign staffer, and friend of Manafort rival campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. According to Politico: For weeks, Wiley made appointments and had discussions with Florida Republicans and appeared to be building a new campaign from scratch, sources say. They say he refused, at times, to return Giorno’s calls or take them. Giorno then began calling other Trump campaign officials to ask them whether Wiley had it out for her or for everyone. On Thursday, word leaked back to Trump. He phoned Giorno, concerned, sources said. “Tell me what’s wrong?” Trump asked her, according to one person familiar with the call. “Karen unloaded on Wiley,” the source said. “Mr. Trump is loyal. He believed her. … Rick picked a fight with the wrong person.” At that point, Trump ordered Wiley to stay away from Giorno and to neither call nor email her. “Donald is loyal. And she’s loyal,” a source said. Donald Trump is running his presidential campaign like a junior high school cheerleading squad. And this is the man who claims his business savvy is what qualifies him for the presidency. Paul Manafort assured Fineman, however, that we could all rest easy about Trump being ready for the big job: “Does he know enough? Yes, because he knows he has more to learn. And he is constantly doing that.” Trump doesn’t read briefing papers, but he is a magnet for information, Manafort said. “He reads the newspapers, and he talks on the phone and to office visitors in a never-ending stream. You’re sitting there in his office and you realize that he is constantly picking up stuff as he goes.” “We have all this survey research, but he does his own soundings all the time, all day every day. And he’s more accurate,” Manafort said. He watches all the shows and obsessively reads his Twitter feed too. It should be obvious by this time that Trump has absolutely no idea what he’s doing and is making it up as he goes along. Paul Manafort is experienced at dealing with this sort of character, and seems quite comfortable doing it. But the campaign is a mess and that’s because the candidate is a vainglorious buffoon who has no clue what he’s doing and thinks he’s a genius. I wouldn’t bet on Manafort lasting through the duration.
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RIO DE JANEIRO — The Olympics are as much about what warms the heart or initiates debate as who wins the medals. But what warms the heart or initiates debate can be a matter of perspective in a sprawling event that brings together more than 200 nations and territories. There was little division on Tuesday in the Olympic Stadium, when two runners — Abbey D’Agostino of the United States and Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand — offered a helping hand to each other after a collision in the 5, 000 meters and then urged each other on to the finish. “I mean, that girl is the Olympic spirit right there,” Hamblin said afterward, speaking to reporters about D’Agostino. But on Sunday in the women’s marathon, when the German twins and training partners Anna and Lisa Hahner decided — spontaneously, they insist — to join hands as they crossed the finish line deep in the pack and far from the medals, they quickly drew sharp criticism. German track and field officials accused them of publicity seeking and treating the Olympic marathon “like a fun run. ” This is not just a German point of view, of course, but it does reflect the range of expectations as athletes navigate the cultural norms that relate to competition and sportsmanship. The Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby, who refused to shake the hand of his Israeli opponent Or Sasson, was following his nation’s standards — one that Olympic officials expressly reject. He was ejected from the Games. There was no outcry, only amusement, when David Katoatau, an exuberant weight lifter from Kiribati, danced off stage on Monday with the goal of heightening awareness of the threat posed by climate change to his tiny nation in the central Pacific Ocean. The Hahner twins had no political agenda when they joined hands to end their race, but their move, to their surprise, was still polarizing. “Victory and medals are not the only goal,” Thomas Kurschilgen, sports director of the German Athletics Federation, said in an email on Tuesday. “Still, every athlete in the Olympic competitions should be motivated to demonstrate his or her best performance and aim for the best possible result. ” That approach, according to Kurschilgen, is what divides elite sport from sport and what he thinks the Hahners failed to grasp. “Their main aim was to generate media attention,” he said. “That is what we criticize. ” The twins, who placed 81st and 82nd in the marathon, do not see it that way. Contacted on Monday, they initially declined to speak, but Anna Hahner later sent an email in which she said they had not planned on finishing and had done their best individually. “In all the marathons we ran together before, there was a point in the race we had to split up,” Anna said. “This was also the case in the Olympic marathon. ” Anna said she started faster, and then Lisa’s group caught up with her at around the mark, at which point Anna said they ran about three kilometers together. “But then I realized I couldn’t run this pace, and I had to let them go,” Anna said. “Lisa was always not far from me. After 40 kilometers, there was a turning point, and I knew, ‘Okay Anna, two kilometers to go to close the gap to Lisa.’ I invested all I had and 300 meters before the finish line, I was next to Lisa. It was a magical moment that we could finish this marathon together. We did not think about what we were doing. ” But Anna said the symbolism was not lost on either twin. “We trained the last four years to participate in this marathon,” she said. “Neither the time nor the position was what made us happy but to know that we did the best that was possible that day. ” And yet the sisters were well short of their best marathon performances. Anna’s personal best in the marathon is 2 hours 26 minutes 44 seconds. Lisa’s is 2:28. 39. In Rio, Anna finished in 2:45. 32, and Lisa in 2:45. 33 despite coming early to the Olympic city to acclimatize. Clearly, the large time gap between their previous performances and their Olympic performances made Kurschilgen and others only more convinced that they were not seeing the twins’ best effort. There is a school of thought at the Olympics and elsewhere that it can be better for an athlete’s profile and even their bottom line to lose memorably — however unintentionally — than to win routinely. D’Agostino and Hamblin would not have become global talking points on Tuesday if they had simply collided and soldiered on without interacting. Nor would the British runner Derek Redmond have become part of an “Olympic moment” if he had simply won his 400 semifinal at the 1992 Olympics instead of tearing his hamstring and insisting on continuing the race. His father came onto the track to assist him as he hobbled to the finish with the Barcelona crowd cheering him on. Even though Redmond was disqualified for receiving outside aid, the image and the memory were and remain powerful. It is the unexpected and uncalculated gesture that so often moves the masses most, no matter what the culture. “This is Olympism,” said Mary Wittenberg, former director of the New York City Marathon who has attended many Olympics. “Yes, athletes go as hard as they can to win the shiniest medals they can most of the time. We love that, and we want to see those medal dreams come true. That said, there are moments when it’s not all about that and most often, as in the case of the Hahners, it’s also because that’s not in the cards at a given event. So an athlete makes a conscious decision to make the most of the moment in a different way. ” It is worth noting that the Hahners were not the only twins to finish side by side on Sunday. Kim and Kim of North Korea finished 10th and 11th on Sunday in an identical time of 2:28. 36. No word from North Korea whether this was perceived officially or unofficially as an uncompetitive act.
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Vietnam s Communist parties have a shared destiny and there is great potential for bilateral economic cooperation, a senior Beijing official said on Tuesday on a visit to Vietnam, which has clashed with China over the South China Sea. Although both nations are under Communist rule, they are deeply suspicious of each other and relations have been strained over the past few years because of disputes in the strategic South China Sea. China has appeared uneasy at Vietnamese efforts to rally Southeast Asian countries over the busy swathe of sea as well as at its neighbor s growing defense ties with the United States, Japan and India. In July, under pressure from Beijing, Vietnam suspended oil drilling in offshore waters that are also claimed by China. However, Hanoi and Beijing have also tried to prevent tensions from getting out of control, and senior officials from two countries make fairly regular visits to each other. Liu Yunshan, a member of the Chinese Communist Party s elite Standing Committee that runs the country, told Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi, in the first such high level visit since relations deteriorated in July, that the two parties constitute a community of shared destiny with strategic significance , China s official Xinhua news agency reported. The sound and stable development of the bilateral ties will help to solidify the ruling position of the two parties, which is in the interests of the two parties and people of the two nations, Xinhua cited Liu as saying. The two economies are highly complementary, with huge potential for practical cooperation, the report quoted him as saying. Phuc told Liu that two countries should strive to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea and avoid all activities that could increase tension, the Vietnamese government news website reported. He also urged China to have substantial discussions soon with Southeast Asian nations to reach a code of conduct in the disputed sea, the report said. While both the Chinese and Vietnamese reports made no direction mention of the South China Sea by Liu, they quoted him as suggesting the two countries properly manage and control their divergences, so as to create favorable environment for bilateral cooperation . China claims nearly all the South China Sea, through which an estimated $3 trillion in international trade passes each year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also have claims.
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The White House and Republican leaders in Congress face long odds in trying to revive trade legislation after a telling defeat engineered by President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats.
Obama's ambitious trade agenda is in serious doubt, as is his quest for a capstone second-term achievement.
Without the power to negotiate trade deals that Congress can approve or reject, but not amend, Obama has little chance of securing the Pacific Rim pact that his administration has worked toward for years.
Friday's rebuff highlighted the strained relations between Obama and congressional Democrats, who voted down a worker assistance program crucial to the negotiating authority measure just hours after the president implored them not to.
Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, had worked in rare tandem on this issue, yet their inability to deliver raises the question of whether much else will get done with Republicans running Congress and Obama in the White House for the next 18 months.
"This isn't over yet," Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., a main supporter of the trade legislation. "I'm hopeful that the Democrats understand the consequences and get together with the president and finish this as soon as possible."
House GOP leaders took steps that would allow another vote on the worker retraining program in coming days, but that would require at least 90 votes to shift.
Republicans sounded pessimistic that they could add many more votes for a program that most on their side deride as wasteful and unnecessary.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California and her labor-backed allies are determined to oppose the Trade Adjustment Assistance program as a way to collapse the entire package. So it seems unlikely that enough Democratic votes would emerge to save the program, even though the party has promoted it for years.
"Some of my Democratic colleagues are in danger of self-immolation" on the workers' program and "I think that's sad," said Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., one of the few Democrats who backed Obama on Friday's votes.
Another possible route is to send revised legislation back to the Senate. But senators approved the larger package only narrowly last month after intense battles, and the White House desperately wants to avoid giving opponents there another chance to strangle the legislation.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest dismissed Friday's outcome as an "entanglement" and "procedural snafu."
But it was more than a "snafu" that caused Pelosi and the majority of House Democrats to revolt against their president.
The White House, congressional Republicans and business groups argued that the special negotiating power is a necessary tool for trade deals opening up crucial markets to American goods.
Union-backed House Democrats never bought the argument. They felt burned by promises from past administrations about trade deals they blame for job and manufacturing losses in their districts.
Trade bills have always had a tough road in Congress. After election losses in recent years the House Democratic caucus is smaller and more liberal, attuned to economic issues in the wake of the financial sector meltdown and recession.
Against that backdrop Obama was not able to bring enough House Democrats his way. Pelosi, from trade-dependent San Francisco, announced on the House floor at the last moment that she would be siding with the majority of her caucus and against her president.
"We want a better deal for America's workers," she said.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The New York Times endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for the White House on Saturday, saying she was more qualified than Republican presidential rival Donald Trump to handle the challenges facing the United States. The newspaper described Clinton as “one of the most tenacious politicians of her generation” and said she had displayed a command of policy and diplomatic nuance while building a reputation for grit and bipartisan cooperation. “A lifetime’s commitment to solving problems in the real world qualifies Hillary Clinton for this job, and the country should put her to work,” the Times said of the former secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York. Clinton will face off against Trump on Monday night in the first of three presidential debates, with opinion polls showing her once sizable lead over the New York businessman narrowing amid continued public doubts about her trustworthiness. The Times said Clinton’s mistakes had distorted perceptions of her character, but praised her work restoring U.S. credibility in foreign affairs as secretary of state and on behalf of children, women and families throughout her career. “Mrs. Clinton has shown herself to be a realist who believes America cannot simply withdraw behind oceans and walls, but must engage confidently in the world to protect its interests and be true to its values,” the newspaper said. It said Clinton’s decision to use a private email server for government work as secretary of state deserved the scrutiny it has received in the campaign, but considered alongside the real challenges facing the United States it “looks like a matter for the help desk.” Viewed against those challenges, Trump “shrinks to his true small-screen, reality-show proportions,” the Times said, promising another editorial on Monday explaining “why we believe Mr. Trump to be the worst nominee put forward by a major party in modern American history.” The endorsement from the Times editorial board is no surprise. The last Republican the Times backed for the White House was President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. But several newspapers with more conservative editorial boards, including the Dallas Morning News and Cincinnati Enquirer, also have recently endorsed Clinton. The Times said Clinton’s best argument for the White House was her ability to rise to the challenges facing the country. “The 2016 campaign has brought to the surface the despair and rage of poor and middle-class Americans” facing the burdens of recession, technological change, foreign competition and war, it said. “Over 40 years in public life, Hillary Clinton has studied these forces and weighed responses to these problems. Our endorsement is rooted in respect for her intellect, experience, toughness and courage over a career of almost continuous public service, often as the first or only woman in the arena,” the newspaper said.
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NAIROBI, Kenya — President Obama spoke out Sunday about corruption, ethnic divisions, terrorism and human rights in a rousing televised speech on his last day in Kenya, his father's homeland.
Speaking to thousands at the Kasarani National Stadium, Obama encouraged Kenyans to “choose the path to progress” by fighting corruption and terrorism and by treating women and girls as equal citizens.
"Kenya has come so far in just my lifetime," said Obama, the first sitting U.S. president to visit the African nation. "Kenya is at a crossroads, a moment filled with peril but enormous promise. Because of Kenya's progress, because of your potential, you can build your future right here, right now."
He called for an end to ethnic divisions and described corruption in the country as a “cancer.”
"Treating women and girls as second-class citizens is a bad tradition. It's holding you back," he added.
Some Kenyans said they were pleased that Obama addressed human rights, ethnic divisions and equality. But for many, just seeing Obama — who was born in Hawaii but his father was from Kenya — was the main goal.
“I should be seeing President Obama live today,” said Collins Njehia, 28, a Nairobi resident camping outside the stadium before the speech. “We’ve been denied access by security officers, but I need to see him, even if it means climbing a tree.”
“Obama is our son, and we love him dearly," said Peninah Mwangi, a vegetable vendor in Nairobi. "I want to make sure I see him today before he leaves."
Many Nairobi residents tried to get to the stadium to watch the event live after officials mounted a huge screen there for those who couldn't get inside. But security measures that all but locked down the capital's streets thwarted those efforts. Some instead headed to bars and hotels to watch the speech.
Agreeing with Obama, Erick Nyariyo, a Nairobi resident, said, “This government will soon become a dictator if some issues are not dealt with,” Nyariyo said. “The government needs to control every institution in the country, including ... the electoral body so that they can rig elections."
The Kenyan government has consistently denied allegations of election fraud.
In his address, Obama warned that ethnic and tribal divisions would lead to further cracks in the country's unity.
"Politics that's based on only tribe and ethnicity is doomed to tear a country apart," he said. "It is a failure — a failure of imagination."
“I was surprised that Obama knows everything about our country,” said Martin Kiprotich, a local leader from western Kenya, who traveled here to attend the speech in the stadium. “I’m happy because he talked about tribalism. Our nation is divided along tribal line(s), and as leaders we need to address it.”
During his three-day visit, Obama spoke to Kenyan leaders about security and terrorism before departing Sunday for Ethiopia.
Kenya has witnessed a rise in high-profile terror attacks over the past two years, including a 2013 assault at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi that resulted in almost 70 deaths. Al-Shabab, a Somali-based group linked to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the mall attack and another attack this year at a university in Garissa in eastern Kenya that killed almost 150 people, mostly students. The extremist group said the attacks were in retaliation for Kenya military action against them in Somalia.
Obama told Kenyans that while security measures must be strengthened, the war on terror must be approached while respecting the rule of law and human rights. Some Muslims cheered at his message, saying that they are always targeted after every terror attack in Kenya.
Nazlin Umar Fazaldin Rajput, head of the National Muslim Council of Kenya, said: "The oppression Muslims face in Kenya are (outrageous). People are persecuted, unlawfully detained for prolonged periods, maliciously arrested (and) prosecuted with trumped-up charges."
David Juma, 29, a businessman who owns a dairy farm, said, “I am inspired by Obama’s story. It does not matter where you were born. Anyone can move from scratch to becoming a great leader like him. His speech has changed my life forever.”
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Streep s shameful attempt to paint Trump as a heartless human being to Golden Globe Award viewers can be found near the middle of this clip:At tonight's #GoldenGlobes we honor Hollywood legend Meryl Streep with the prestigious Cecil B. Demille Award. pic.twitter.com/dxpeCDNXY6 Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 9, 2017Now watch the video that proves Meryl Streep was fabricating (acting) her story out without real evidence that Donald Trump mocked a disabled reporter:
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Abortion opponents gathered on Friday in Washington for their annual march, which has taken place every year since 1974 to protest the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision from 1973. ■ Vice President Mike Pence, the official to ever speak in person at the march, told the crowd that “life is winning. ” ■ Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, also addressed the crowd. ■ The march drew thousands of activists. Mr. Pence, using the refrain “life is winning,” assured the crowd that Mr. Trump shared their opposition to abortion and would appoint a justice to the Supreme Court who held that view as well. “We will not rest until we restore a culture of life in America,” Mr. Pence said, and thousands in the crowd cheered. He also said that by many measures — the views of members of Congress and advances in science among them — “life is winning in America. ” Standing where other Republican leaders have usually just sent video or audio recordings of their message, Mr. Pence said the movement should embrace the moment. Kellyanne Conway may have sprung onto the national political scene largely unknown. But inside the movement of those opposing abortion, she has been a leading figure for two decades. “Kellyanne is one of us,” is how she was introduced at the March for Life. As a pollster and political strategist, she advised numerous groups like the Susan B. Anthony List and the March for Life, urging them to adopt what she often described as a more approach that avoided some of the more incendiary language of the movement in the past. Opponents of abortion gather every year on the National Mall and march to the Supreme Court. Usually their defiance is not much more than symbolism — the court is the origin of Roe v. Wade, the decision in 1973 that they have sought for more than 40 years to overturn. This year they have ample reason to believe that under a government, they will begin to see movement for the first time in more than a decade. In previous years, no president or vice president has ever addressed the march in person. This year, the Trump administration will be out in full force with the appearances of Mr. Pence and Ms. Conway. President Trump, in one of his first official acts, signed an order prohibiting foreign aid to health providers abroad who discuss abortion as a option. And in a break with previous Republican presidents, he has embraced the idea of a litmus test for his Supreme Court nominees and pledged explicitly to name someone who opposes abortion. He said he would announce his choice on Thursday to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last February. Mr. Trump has become an unlikely champion for the movement, with abortion opponents saying he is probably their most unflinching White House ally since President Ronald Reagan. Though Mr. Trump spent much of his life as a supporter of abortion rights, he spoke more vividly and forcefully on the issue during the campaign than any recent Republican nominee. And while many groups opposing abortion were vehemently opposed to Mr. Trump during the Republican primaries last year, almost all of them came around. Today, however unexpectedly, they march in a Washington suddenly more friendly to their interests. Many of the activists said they were looking forward to President Trump appointing Supreme Court justices who might overturn the right to abortions and to the defunding of Planned Parenthood. Marchers waved signs spelling out their beliefs in messages like “Save the babies,” “ ” and “Trump for Baby Bumps. ” Still, some of the marchers remained wary of the new president. Kathleen Crank, 19, a sophomore at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. traveled on a five bus caravan of 260 students to come to the march. She said she was happy to have a president who would oppose abortion but wasn’t excited about much else about Mr. Trump. She said she waited until the last minute and decided not to vote for either him or Hillary Clinton. “Their stance on abortion is probably the only issue I’m glad about for this administration,” she said. “I’m glad that after eight years of reading Obama’s tweets celebrating Roe v. Wade, I’m glad we finally have an administration that is recognizing we need to cut funding for abortions in other countries and bringing it back down to the state level. ” Ms. Crank also said she saw abortions as less about religion than about preserving the rights of unborn children. “It’s more a social justice issue for unborn babies than a religious one to push an agenda,” she said. “Everyone should be able to live their life and live it however they want to. ” Annette Saunders, 60, drove five hours with her husband from Norwalk, Conn. to volunteer with Save the Storks, a group that opposes abortion, and to hand out signs that said, “For those who can’t. ” Though she voted for Mr. Trump, Ms. Saunders said she agonized over the decision because she found him to be “crass” and was frustrated by the tape of him using vulgarities to talk about women. “I was concerned but I felt like God told me to vote for Donald Trump,” she said. “He is standing up for and his vice president certainly is and I’m excited about seeing a turnaround. ” Jon Banks and Josie Rauh, both 18, were taking photos of each other in front of the Washington Monument clad in red and blue President caps. They were part of a group that traveled to Washington from Archbishop Hoban, a private Catholic high school in Akron, Ohio. Both said Mr. Trump’s opposition to abortion were the centerpieces of their support for the new president. They grew up in families dedicated to the cause. Ms. Rauh had supported former President Barack Obama but became enthusiastic in 2016. “I thought Obama was a pretty good president,” she said. “I think there are some things that need to be changed, like Roe v. Wade. I think Trump has got a plan and is ready to do it. ” “I want women to have their rights,” she added. “But I think there are a bunch of women in the womb that are being killed, too. ” Mr. Banks, the son of a police officer, said he was thrilled by Mr. Trump’s patriotism. He said he hoped the new president found a way to outlaw abortion. As Mr. Pence, Ms. Conway and several other speakers celebrated what they described as a new phase for the movement, thousands of people shouted “Trump” and “Life” while happily waving their hands. Anne Nudi, 49, a nurse and college professor who flew to Washington from her home in Kenosha, Wis. to come to the march, said she enthusiastically cast her ballot for Mr. Trump and has been encouraged by his first busy week in office. “I feel empowered. I feel positive. I feel encouraged about the future and I feel blessed that I have a president who is supportive of our cause,” she said as she shivered while watching the speakers. “I believe he’s a good person. He’s made his own way and I believe he wants what’s best for our country regardless of party affiliation. ”
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After it was announced that President Trump was seriously considering moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, he was roundly criticized by the anti-Trump media. Today, Democrats have announced they are drawing up the impeachment papers. Pope Francis appealed to President Trump to reconsider his decision so as not to offend anyone. In his appeal, Pope Francis said, Jerusalem is a unique city, sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims who venerate the holy places of their respective religions, and has a special vocation to peace. And yawn in Gaza, where the more things change, the more they stay the same, Palestinians burned the U.S. and Israeli flags.The media will try to make everyone believe that Palestinians loved us when Obama was President, even though there is no truth to that fantasy. (See image below)Daily Mail President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that America formally recognizes Jerusalem as Israel s capital city, changing decades of U.S. policy in a brief afternoon speech and casting the move as a bid to preserve, not derail, aspirations for regional peace.Appearing in the White House s Diplomatic Reception Room against an elaborate backdrop of Christmas decorations, He also said the United States embassy in Israel would, over time, be moved there from Tel Aviv.Israel is the only country where the United States has an embassy in a city that the host nation does not consider its capital. I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Trump said. While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today I am delivering. When I came into office I promised to look at the world s challenges with open eyes and very fresh thinking, he said, leaning heavily on a mid-1990s federal law that demanded the embassy s relocation. We have declined to acknowledge any Israeli capital at all, Trump added. But today we finally acknowledge the obvious, that Jerusalem is Israel s capital. This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It is something that has to be done. Matthew Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon seems to think so. Continetti wrote the best piece on Trump s bold decision to move the embassy that we have seen to date.Not only is President Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and begin the process of moving the U.S. embassy there one of the boldest moves of his presidency. It is one of the boldest moves any U.S. president has made since the beginning of the Oslo peace process in 1993. That process collapsed at Camp David in 2000 when Yasir Arafat rejected President Clinton s offer of a Palestinian state. And the process has been moribund ever since, despite multiple attempts to restart it.That is why the warnings from Trump critics that his decision may wreck the peace process ring hollow. There is no peace process to wreck. The conflict is frozen. And the largest barriers to the resumption of negotiations are found not in U.S. or Israeli policy but in Palestinian autocracy, corruption, and incitement. Have the former Obama administration officials decrying Trump s announcement read a newspaper lately? From listening to them, you d think it would be all roses and ponies in the Middle East but for Trump. In fact, the region is engulfed in war, terrorism, poverty, and despotism; Israel faces threats in the north and south; its sworn enemy, Iran, is growing in influence and reach; and the delegitimization of the Jewish State proceeds apace in international organizations and on college campuses. I forget how the Obama administration advanced the cause of peace by pressuring Israel while rewarding the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Maybe someone will remind me.A similar form of doublethink is present in our discussions over Jerusalem. Every Israeli knows Jerusalem was, is, and will remain his capital. Every recent president has agreed with him. And the U.S. consensus has been bipartisan. The last four Democratic platforms have said the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel s capital. The Senate voted 90-0 only six months ago urging the embassy be moved to the ancient city. Were we to take seriously neither these platforms nor that vote? Was it all virtue-signaling, a bunch of empty gestures in the kabuki theater of U.S. diplomacy?It is a sign of the disingenuousness of American foreign policy that it required someone from outside this system to behave as if words have meaning. President Trump has no background in or admiration for the routines, manners, and norms of the U.S. foreign service, especially that part of it which specializes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This has enabled him to state unequivocally the fact others would prefer to avoid: Jerusalem is Israel s capital, full stop. His transactional nature also brought him to this fateful recognition. In March 2016, at the AIPAC policy conference, he pledged that We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem. His remarks today make clear his intention to fulfill that promise and to cement his support within the pro-Israel community.I wonder about the journalists and flacks and politicians criticizing this literal reading of U.S. law as disruptive. Have they not paid attention to this man? Donald Trump s purpose in office is to disrupt if not overturn the patterns of governance and ideological consensus that have dominated the U.S. capital for decades. In this sense, his Jerusalem policy is his presidency in microcosm. He is acting on a common sense appraisal of the world and satisfying the wishes of his supporters without regard to global or domestic elite opinion. What Trump knows more than the art of the deal is the art of the bluff and how to call one. By keeping his campaign promise today, he has called the bluff of everyone who thought the United States could have its cake and eat it too on the question of Israel s capital. And by moving our embassy to Jerusalem, the United States will acknowledge Israel s right to determine its own capital city. That is not something to condemn or fear. It is something to be proud of.
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The big, gray Air Force plane carrying the president’s limousines flew low, slow and loud over this small farming city, shaking buildings and barns.
The noise from its engines rattled the doors at the Cattleman’s Casino, where the owner was hanging an American flag that she had bought that morning, and the windows at the Midwest Bible Camp, where the pastor and his wife hadn’t voted for the president but still put up a sign asking God to bless him.
It stopped farmers on their tractors and the sisters at the Mother of God Monastery who dashed up to the roof to watch it pass. It surprised the mayor, who was in the middle of an interview with a radio station 100 miles away in Sioux Falls.
“Check that out,” he said last Thursday when he spotted the plane through his office window, although no one listening to his voice on the radio was close enough to know what he was talking about.
Hundreds of Watertown residents were rushing to the airport so they could see it up close and on the ground. In 36 hours, the president would be coming to this city, only the fifth-largest in South Dakota, to deliver the commencement address at the local community college. If all went as planned, he would be on the ground for only two hours.
There’s hardly a state in America that’s more hostile to Obama than South Dakota, where the president’s disapproval rating hovers around 70 percent and the local Republican Party last summer passed a resolution calling for his impeachment.
But even in an era of almost unprecedented political polarization, people still want to see their president. That was especially true in Watertown, which had never hosted a sitting commander in chief. The cargo plane landed and rolled to a stop. Inside the tiny commuter airport terminal, there were three empty couches and a television playing Fox News. Outside, a light rain was falling, and about 300 people were standing along the airport fence line. A teacher had brought her nursery school class. Farther down the metal fence line were locals who had skipped out of work for the morning and retirees balanced on wooden canes.
“This is definitely not his president,” said Laurie Brandriet Keller, gesturing to her husband. “I’m amazed how excited he’s been these last few days.”
People in the crowd shot video with their cellphones and wondered how the monstrous airplane even stayed in the air. “It looked like it was dragging, just about ready to fall,” said Vernard Cordell, 71, who thought the thunderous noise was some sort of farm equipment rolling past his house. Then he realized it was coming from the sky, and he sped to the airport.
A ramp dropped, and out of the plane came bomb-sniffing dogs, trucks and vans. There were Secret Service agents with guns. Last off were the two presidential limousines, shiny and black, each bearing flags with the presidential seal.
The crowd edged closer; hands gripped the fence. The vehicles, including the limousines, formed up into a loose motorcade and drove to a local gas station just outside of the airport, where they filled up with fuel. Most of the crowd followed.
Harley Waterman, who had shut down his pawn shop to race out the airfield, lingered by the fence line, still staring at the plane, a raw expression of American power. The actual presidential visit Friday was still more than a day away.
“Just look at the size of that thing,” he said. “A once-in-a-lifetime deal.”
For the vast majority of Watertown’s 21,000 residents, the only chance to see the president would come as his motorcade sped past them on the way to his Lake Area Technical Institute commencement address.
The motorcade route was less than four miles and not likely to last much longer than 10 minutes. It was also supposed to be secret, known only to local police, the president’s security detail and the mayor.
Jerry Elshere, 70, a retired middle school assistant principal, stood along 10th Avenue, about a mile from the community college. In the 1920s, his parents had driven 400 miles to see Calvin Coolidge, who had gone trout fishing one summer in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Now he and his three grandchildren were hoping to catch a glimpse of Obama. He’d picked the spot based on a tip from a neighbor and the presence of a local policeman.
The motorcade wouldn’t pass for at least another hour, but already a small crowd was forming on the sidewalk. They huddled under blankets, carried signs and set up lawn chairs.
“I know, but I can’t say,” said the lone policeman, a smile slipping across his face.
Most in the crowd, which was now three or four people deep, were die-hard Republicans and had little love for this president. “I wonder if he’s a Christian sometimes,” said Kristi Maas, 47, who owns a small hair salon in town. Just the thought was “scary” to her, she said. “He wants to take prayer out of everything. . . . Isn’t this country supposed to be based on religion?” Heads nodded around her.
The president’s plane landed about 30 minutes late. Someone tuned a radio to a local station where the DJ, who usually announces the Watertown High School basketball games, was doing a play-by-play of Obama’s arrival. The president was coming down the Air Force One steps, the announcer said. He was shaking hands with the mayor and climbing into one of the motorcade’s two black limousines.
Now, the motorcade was rolling.
“Is the president coming down this road?” Elshere’s granddaughter asked him.
A few minutes passed, and the policeman’s walkie-talkie, which had been quiet, started to buzz. “Everyone needs to back up,” the officer said.
The crowd took three steps from the road and then surged forward again at the sight of the two black limousines shining in the afternoon sun. Just before the president’s car slowed to make the turn by the cluster of scraggly pine trees on 10th Avenue, they raised their cellphones and started to record.
From where Maas was standing, the light was just perfect. She could see Obama smiling and waving through the tinted window for three or maybe four full seconds . . . and then he was gone.
“Oh my gosh, he waved at me!” Maas said. “That was so cool!”
Her cellphone rang with a call from her daughter.
“I just got waved at by the president!” Maas said. “Yeah, he waved at us. He didn’t roll down the window, but I could see him smiling as plain as day. He was waving at me!”
The crowd drifted slowly away. As she walked back to her car with her sister, Maas was already reconsidering her opinion of the man who minutes earlier she had believed maybe wasn’t a Christian — the man she worried was ruining the country.
“I believe in respecting our president,” her sister said.
“You only hear some of the stories about him, not all of them,” Maas agreed. “He’s a husband and a father. He has the same feelings we do.”
The president’s commencement address aired live on all of Watertown’s major television and radio stations.
At the Cattleman’s Casino, a two-room bar on the north side of town, all six TVs were tuned to the speech. The smell of cigarettes, stale beer and cow manure from the auction barn across the street hung heavy in air. About 30 people were clustered around the big flatscreen at the front of the bar.
For the first, and probably only time in their lives, they were listening to a president talk about their town, their friends and their relatives. Stephanie Burchatz, who runs a small construction company with her dad and brother, was sipping a $2.50 Bud Light. Her eyes were trained on the president.
She had spent most of the day laying new sidewalks, curbs and gutters for the city. Now she was listening as the president talked about the girlfriend of one of her employees, a single mom who had gone back to Lake Area Tech to get an associate’s degree. “By age 20, she was working as a waitress, supporting two beautiful baby girls, Lizzie and Farah, on her own,” the president was saying.
“This is good,” she was saying. “This is really, really good.”
The president was reading the speech — his seventh public address of the week — off of a teleprompter. But to the people in the bar it seemed as if he were telling their stories from memory.
When Obama was done, the bar erupted in applause. A woman sitting in the smoking room by the video poker machines had begun crying.
“Most of the time I could care less what he’s talking about,” said Jason Hollatz, 37-year-old farmer. “Are all Obama’s speeches like that?”
Her brother glanced back at the television where Obama, his speech finished, was accepting a Lake Area Tech jacket from one of the new graduates. Suddenly his mouth fell open. “That’s the kid who ran over my mailbox last week,” he yelled.
One last look
Obama’s motorcade raced back through town to the airport, where a crowd of about 200 was gathering near the southern end of the runway to catch one last glimpse of the presidential plane.
There were lawyers, farmers, construction workers and the custodian from the nearby elementary school and his family. An elderly woman balanced on her walker.
The temperature had started to drop, and the wind was kicking up. A youth baseball team cut short its practice and wandered over. The runway at the Watertown airport was too small to accommodate the president’s normal plane, so the White House had switched to a smaller 757, which taxied to the far end of the runway and gunned its engines.
“It’s going to get loud,” a mother warned her son, who plugged his ears.
The blue-and-white 757 with the presidential seal and “United States of America” began tearing down the runway, kicking up a cloud of dust and sand in its wake. All eyes turned skyward as the plane lifted off the ground. Some filmed the takeoff with their cellphone cameras. Others waved goodbye. They kept waving long after there was any chance that the president or anyone inside the plane could still see them standing in the field below.
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The people working in Donald Trump s White House are not the sharpest tools in the shed. After all, anyone with any sense whatsoever will stay far, far away from working for this Administration at all, because of Trump s penchant for ruining the lives and careers of everyone around him via public humiliation. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that an email prankster from the United Kingdom managed to trick several White House officials into believing he was Jared Kushner.According to CNN, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert feel for the hoax. The email read: Tom, we are arranging a bit of a soir e towards the end of August. It would be great if you could make it, I promise food of at least comparible (sic) quality to that which we ate in Iraq. Should be a great evening. Bossert returned the email to the Kushner imposter, and even gave the person his own email address: Thanks, Jared. With a promise like that, I can t refuse. Also, if you ever need it, my personal email is (redacted).Here is an image of the exchange, via CNN:Now, this guy is in charge of advising the loons in the White House on how to keep us safe. Yet, he was too dumb to realize that this was a hoax, likely for kicks, as the rest of the world is laughing at the clown car that is the Trump Administration. Think about that, and be absolutely terrified.They also got freshly fired White House Communications Director Anthony The Mooch Scaramucci. From CNN: I had promised myself I would leave my hands mud free, wrote the fake Priebus, but after reading your tweet today which stated how; soon we will learn who in the media who has class, and who hasn t , has pushed me to this. That tweet was breathtakingly hypocritical, even for you. At no stage have you acted in a way that s even remotely classy, yet you believe that s the standard by which everyone should behave towards you? General Kelly will do a fine job. I ll even admit he will do a better job than me. But the way in which that transition has come about has been diabolical. And hurtful. I don t expect a reply. None of these people should be anywhere near our government, and yet they are running the whole damn thing. Trump supporters, if you think this is what things are supposed to be like, you really are as stupid as we always thought you were.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images
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Photo by The U.S. Army | CC BY 2.0
Here is a list of the noteworthy, ongoing results of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq beginning in March 2003. (Recall that invasion was denounced by the UN as illegal, based entirely on lies, and—given the U.S.’s hegemonic position in the world, allowing it to act with impunity—the crime’s architects have never punished.)
1/ The principal achievement of the war and occupation was the dramatic expansion of the al-Qaeda network that had attacked the U.S. on January 11, 2001. An al-Qaeda franchise was established in Iraq for the first time, playing a key role in the Sunni “insurrection” against the occupiers and their Shiite allies, then expanding across the border into Syria where it split into the al-Nusra affiliate and its even more savage rival, ISIL. Iraq also served and serves as a training ground for jihadis now operating from Iraq to Libya and beyond.
2/ The invasion and its consequences encouraged the cause of Kurdistan , an imagined state straddling Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. The Kurds are the largest stateless people in the world, victims of British and French colonialists who divided the region between them after World War I. After the Gulf War of 1991, the U.S. established a “no-fly” zone over northern Iraq to discourage Baghdad from deploying troops in the region. Iraqi Kurdistan had already obtained a degree of autonomy before the invasion but the status became official under the occupation and a referendum for independence is likely to pass soon. This would infuriate Iraq and perhaps provoke Turkey’s intervention. As it is, the autonomous region is locked in struggle with Baghdad over territorial claims and control over oil fields.
3/ The invasion destroyed the Iraqi state , causing it to fracture into three: Kurdistan, the Sunni zone in the west, and the Shiite-majority areas around Baghdad. The Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein had been extremely repressive and brutal. But it had maintained order; discouraged religion in politics; protected the Christian and other religious minorities; promoted women’s rights; imposed no dress code; enforced a criminal code modeled after the Napoleonic (not the Sharia); licensed rock n’ roll radio stations, allowed the brewing of beer and its sale etc. The Shiite-led regime boosted into power by the occupation has reversed much of this. (A bill to ban the production and sale of beer was just passed by Parliament last week.) But the regime’s power does not extend into much of Anbar Province, ISIL still governs Mosul, and again, Kurdistan has become autonomous.
4/ Because Shiites are the majority in Iraq (60%), and dominate Iran next door; and because the leaders of Shiite parties have studied in Iran or lived their in exile and are sympathetic to Iran’s mullah-led regime; and because the U.S. was forced by peaceful mass protests to allow elections and the emergence of Shiites as the leaders of the country, Iran’s power and influence in the region has expanded dramatically. (Apparently no one in the State Department thought about that.) Since Iran has not attacked another country in centuries—but was savagely attacked by Saddam Hussein in 1981, sparking a long war killing over half a million people—and since Iran’s friendliness to its neighbor, one of the few Arab countries in which its co-coreligionists hold power, is entirely natural, one can ask why anyone might be alarmed by this. But it does alarm some, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, that crucial U.S. Arab ally governed by Wahhabi Sunnis, most of all.
5/ The invasion produced a regional power struggle between Sunni Islamists on the one hand, and their Shiite (and other) enemies on the other. This is often portrayed as a contest between Saudi Arabia (whose government-backed clerics condemn Shiites as heretics, and who fear the prospects for rebellion in Saudi Arabia’s own oppressed Shiite minority) and Iran, depicted as the protector of Shiites in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen etc. (The so-called “Shiite Crescent” extending from Iran to Hizbollah-controlled areas of Lebanon in fact embraces states and movements that have little in common with the Islamic Republic of Iran. But they are all targeted by the medieval regime in Riyadh which tars them all with the Iranian brush.) The Saudis were keen advocates for a U.S. strike on Iran (on the false pretext of a nuclear threat); are major supporters of al-Nusra in Syria and have funded ISIL as well, preferring such Islamist forces to the secular if Alawite-led Syrian regime; and are bombing the hell out of Yemen with active U.S. and British assistance under the false pretext that the Shiite Houthi “rebels” are agents for an expanding Iran. These things would not be happening, had the U.S. not ripped the lid off Pandora’s box in Iraq in March 2003.
6/ The invasion has produced friction between the U.S. and its important NATO ally Turkey (which has the second largest military in the alliance). Turkish war planes are bombing Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units) militia in Syria who constitute the U.S.’s most reliable allies, producing U.S. protests (which the Turks ignore, arguing straight-faced that the YPG are just as terrorist as ISIL). The Turks warned before the invasion of Iraq that it would likely produce regional instability. But Ankara would have allowed the U.S. to attack from Turkish soil if Turkish forces as part of the “coalition of the willing” could be stationed around Mosul, once part of Turkey—the idea being to contain Kurdish nationalism.
Fortunately the parliament rejected the deal. But the predicted instability has occurred. The Arab Spring of 2011 in Syria was not directly connected to the Iraq invasion, but gave the U.S. the opportunity to pontificate that “Assad has lost legitimacy,” demand his immediate resignation, and bankroll the armed opposition including the Kurds. The fact that U.S. efforts to find and recruit Syrian Arab forces as allies—who are not in bed with al-Nusra—to topple Assad have failed so dismally binds the Pentagon ever closer to forces that Turkey wants to wipe out. (The conflict and contradiction are embarrassing to Washington. Oh, by the way, did you notice that the Turkish foreign minister just announced that Turkey would invade Iraq if it “felt threatened”?)
Having declared in 2011 that Bashar al-Assad must go, the U.S. was faced in 2014 with the horrible embarrassment of ISIL (that toxic fruit of its Iraq invasion) winning lightening victories from Raqqa to Fallujah, obliterating the Sykes-Picot line dividing Syria and Iraq. The now-Syria based terrorists were approaching Baghdad. So now the U.S. having withdrawn all troops in Iraq was back in action, bombing to prevent such a disaster. And it started bombing ISIL positions in Syria (although with far less efficacy than the later Russian efforts) in league with a list of largely reluctant allies dragooned into formal membership in what Washington likes to call a “coalition” to make its unilateral program for the region sound like the will of what they like to call “the international community” regardless of how many key nations that imagined “community” includes.
The U.S. command that Assad step down was made in the summer of 2011. Turkey’s President Erdogan, hitherto a friend and even mentor of the Syrian leader, opportunistically took up the U.S. demand and demanded his resignation. And Ankara itself began to interfere big-time in the neighboring country it once dominated, targeting Kurds more than anyone else. Since the U.S. relies on these allies, how could there not be a sharp conflict here?
7/ The invasion of Iraq and aftermath resulted in four million Iraqi refugees fleeing the country as of 2007. Hundreds of thousands have poured into Europe, alongside people displaced by U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Libya, and by the turmoil in Syria exacerbated by U.S. actions, producing a massive continent-wide crisis. Many Europeans aptly blame the deluge on the U.S., pointing to the U.S.’s paltry record of admitting refugees from the Middle East and complaining of strained national resources to handle the humanitarian catastrophe. (Another embarrassment.) ***
This is all what Buddhists call “karmic retribution” for past acts. Or what the Hebrew prophet Hosea referred to when he said “Those who sow the wind reap the whirlwind.” Or what the CIA meant when it invented the term “blowback.” It’s all heading towards something, unless decent people stop it.
But when I watch people like Michael Moore line up behind the foremost advocate of war in U.S. politics, joining (consciously, philosophical) amoral thugs hell-bent on maintaining and expanding the empire when it’s in a stage of precipitous decline, I am not optimistic. Not only will she win, but she will rival Dick Cheney as a cold-blooded latter-day Cold Warrior, cynically exploiting fear and stupidity to try to bring Russia to its knees.
Hillary doesn’t recognize any of these seven points, which to recapitulate are:
+ US actions have greatly strengthened al-Qaeda
+ US actions have encouraged Kurdish nationalism (with unpredictable ramifications)
+ The US through its vicious illegal actions has destroyed the modern Iraqi state
+ US actions have solidified ties between Iran and Iraq’s majority Shiite community, strengthening a country still targeted for “regime change”
+ The invasion of Iraq and the regime change there exacerbated the historical Sunni-Shiite divide, and encouraged Saudi Arabia as the ultra-Islamist protector of the shrines to redouble its efforts to support extremist Sunnis everywhere in the region
+ The results of the invasion place Turkey and the U.S. at loggerheads over the question of Kurdish nationalist movements in both Iraq and Syria
+ US interventions in the Middle East and North Africa since 2001 have produced a massive refugee crisis, inflicted mainly on Europe
She does not acknowledge that George W. Bush’s invasion (that she so passionately endorsed, fully exposing her Valkyrie soul, was criminal and not somebody’s well-meaning “mistake”). She doesn’t have any analysis of the Kurdish question. (She is not—as sometimes alleged by supporters—a “policy wonk” but a lazy intellect who doesn’t know jack-shit about the real world.)
She has never expressed regret for the horrific destruction of Iraq, nor given any attention to the plight of its women, who were (as she surely knows) much better off under Saddam Hussein. (To acknowledge that would be to suggest that sometimes U.S. imperialism favors misogynist Islamists over relatively progressive secularists, for its own pragmatic empire-building purposes. She can’t mention that publicly.)
She deals with the rise of Iran—made inevitable by the U.S. invasion of Iraq—by doubling down on her crude clueless Iran rhetoric, which rests on the assumption—repeatedly debunked by U.S. intelligence agencies—that Iran might pose a nuclear weapons threat. She doesn’t understand the history of the Sunni-Shiite divide; I believe she rolls her eyes in irritation that these people have these differences so hard to understand, impeding the Exceptional Nation’s ability to straighten everything out by bombing, and conquering, and making people die. She doesn’t understand anything about the history of the Kurds and their fate in the region.
She feels no guilt at all about her orchestration of the ruin of Libya. She sees no reason to link her own actions to the flooding of Europe with refugees fleeing terror. But she will probably be the next president, with fellow shieldmaidens Michele Flournoy (as “secretary of defense”) and Victoria Nuland or Samantha Power (as secretary of state).
Never acknowledging what happened yesterday, never able to absorb historical lessons, determined to maintain and expend its global hegemony (just as that becomes absolutely impossible to do, because other nations rise too, and great nations like Spain and Britain actually get humbled over time), the U.S. under Clinton will likely head methodically towards a showdown with Russia. She wants so badly, to show she can do it. She’ll do it for women, everywhere, to show how strong a woman can be.
And then there will be a sudden strange change in your environment. As you wonder what’s going on you’ll be painlessly vaporized, on account of Hillary’s passion to topple Assad, or forcibly reintegrate the Donbass into Ukraine.
The brilliance of the 2003 invasion will be clarified as never before in that bright blast, as Hillary—a very strong woman—cackles in the background from her bunker about how she came, saw, and a million died.
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First of Two Parts … A lion isn’t always beloved, but it is always respected, even feared. In his inaugural address today at the Capitol, President Donald Trump roared, and decades’ worth of vapid orthodoxy melted away. As Trump said, his inaugural ceremony was more than a transfer of power from one administration to another, or from one party to another. Instead, it was something much more profound: “We are transferring power from Washington, DC, and giving it back to you, the people. ” It’s a safe bet that everyone in Powertown heard those words and realized, full well, that the were directed against them, their lifestyle, their and their overall worldview. Yet Trump was just getting warmed up: For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. As the headline atop The Drudge Report blared, “Trump eviscerates Washington. ” And Trump means to move fast, starting with executive orders. As he said, “The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action. ” And it was the voice of the lion that added, “When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There should be no fear. ” Unfortunately, some Americans will be fearful, even if they have no true reason to be afraid. As Trump said, extending his open hand to all Americans: It’s time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget, that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots. We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American flag. And yet a few, those among the DC elite, have good reason to be afraid — very afraid. On the campaign trail, Trump always said, “Drain the swamp!” And today he proved that he meant it. Of course, Powertown won’t give up its power easily. So yes, it will be a fight. But then, every lion knows that, from birth, it is destined to fight what Trump said of America is also true of himself: “A nation is only living as long as it is striving. ” Then he closed on a deeply leonine note: Together we will make America strong again, we will make America wealthy again, we will make America proud again, we will make America safe again. And, yes, together we will make America great again. Virgil believes that Trump’s speech marks a watershed in American history. That is, in recent decades, it had been possible for a president to natter on about America’s duties to the world as a whole, and yet it was seen as gauche to talk about America’s duties to itself, and to her people. But that all changed today. It was Trump who spoke of “carnage” in our cities (and what other word could one use to describe, for example, the nearly 800 murders in Chicago last year, part of an overall 14 percent rise? ). It was Trump who spoke also of “ factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation. ” Yet now, in the era, both his political opponents today and his wannabe successors in the future will have to embrace at least the thought behind Trump’s stark imagery and tough thinking. That is, now that 45th president has set the 2017 baseline as being one of bloodshed and despair, it won’t be possible, in the years to come, for Democrat challengers to emphasize, instead, climate change and bathrooms. Moreover, now that Trump has invoked the power of the American people, the Democrats will not be well advised to resume their effort to weaponize the federal government and the judiciary against the values of the middle class. As the Democrats discovered in 2016, that’s the way to lose elections. And at the same time, Republicans are on notice to cool it with the libertarian jargon of “job creators” and “makers vs. takers. ” As Trump has said many times, people on Social Security, Medicare, and VA benefits have already given their fair share they don’t deserve to be lumped in with welfare recipients. In particular, the GOP should note Trump’s use today of the old word, “solidarity. ” That’s what the American people voted for in November, and that’s what the Republican wants as well. Meanwhile, heedless to the tectonic changes Trump is forcing, the MSM and the culture still trashes him at every opportunity, even at the risk of descending into total . To cite just two of thousands of possible examples, The New Republic headlined one piece on the 20th, “Welcome to the Trump Dark Age. ” And The Wrap, an entertainment publication, offered this headline, “Women’s March May Outshine Trump Inauguration. ” Yes, that’s the ticket. Except for one thing: Trump will be the 45th president when the marchers have all gone home. In fact, the MSM and the cultureplex have joined together to establish a “meme” about which they are quite proud — namely, that Trump is the least popular new president in a long time, maybe ever. Even pop culture blogger Perez Hilton is saying it, as he cites Seth Meyers, the sage of NBC’s late night. Yet here’s something that the chattering classes might not have thought about: The idea of Donald Trump is more popular, and powerful, than the man himself. Yes, he’s an alpha male of the highest order, and yet he has always been careful to situate himself within the larger current. As Trump told Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle back in July, “I’m the messenger to the movement. ” Yes, the movement: the deep forces that propelled Trump to victory last year, no matter what was thrown at him. This movement is as has been argued many times here at Breitbart. as seen also so vividly with the Brexit vote, is the story of the year — and, indeed, the story of our era. As has been said, nothing can stop the power of an idea whose time has come. Some, of course, will dispute this. They will argue, for example, that Trump won only a minority of the popular vote, even if, of course, he won a majority in the voting that mattered, in the electoral college. It’s also true that Trump has had some negative poll ratings. On November 8, his personal disapproval ratings — if one takes the average of the last five polls before the election — were, according to RealClearPolitics, an underwater 39:57. And yet Trump won more than 46 percent of the nationwide vote. So we can see, if the polls are to be believed, that a fair number of voters went to the polls with a negative opinion of Trump and . . . voted for Trump, So what happened? Here’s what happened: The country wanted a change, and so it was willing to put aside its hesitations about the Republican candidate. Again according to RealClearPolitics, the average “right track” for the nation in the five polls closest to Election Day was 32:62. So if Trump’s challenge was that a lot of voters didn’t like him, Hillary Clinton’s challenge was that by a 2:1 margin, voters didn’t like what was happening to them. As Angelo Codevilla wrote during the campaign: The overriding question of 2016 has been how eager the American people are to reject the bipartisan class that has ruled this country contrary to its majority’s convictions. In other words, “Throw the bums out!” We can see this point in finer detail thanks to a compilation of polling data from FiveThirtyEight. The site tracked the polling on 32 issues during the Obama presidency, 2009 to 2017, from abortion to Guantanamo to unions. On some issues, Obama scored well, but on the “gut” issues of the economy, immigration, race relations, and terrorism, the 44th president’s polling numbers were steadily below 50 percent. We can state the obvious: Big issues matter more to voters than little issues. So in her own campaign as Obama’s anointed successor, Hillary didn’t have firm ground to stand on — she had quicksand. A few journalistic outlets have caught on to the point that Trumpism is even bigger than Trump. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, normally critical of the the new president, wrote of Trump on January 19: He confronts the paradox of a country skeptical that he has the personal traits for the Presidency but still hopeful he can fulfill his promise to shake up a government that is increasingly powerful even as it fails to work. . . . If voters are ambivalent about Mr. Trump personally, he has a policy opening to earn their support. And other observers have echoed that point. As Mike Allen of Axios put it on January 20, “Applying traditional metrics to Trump means we haven’t learned anything in the past 19 months. ” Allen continued by saying that while voters might have qualms about Trump himself, they are nevertheless “more bullish about his big themes. ” To be sure, some reporters haven’t gotten the message. And many of them are at CNN, notably CNN’s Brian Stelter, who continues to hoot over Trump’s alleged “poll denialism,” even as Trump enters the White House. And on Thursday night, another CNN talking head, David Gergen, called Trump “unhinged,” as others on the panel nodded in agreement. Yet others in the MSM are starting to realize, however reluctantly, that, yes, Trump represents something bigger than they first realized. In the grudging words of The New York Times’ Nate Cohn, “There’s something about Mr. Trump’s appeal that’s not captured in the traditional approval ratings or the character questions. ” And that “something,” of course, is the hope of the American people for a better life — which they knew they wouldn’t get from four more years of under Hillary. Without a doubt, Trump is something different. As the new president said on Friday: We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries, and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights, and heal our divisions. We can note the happy absence of the usual litany of grievances against America and, also, the happy presence of a new Trumpian theme: curing disease. Yet of course, the big issue is the economy. And as we know, even before taking office, Trump was changing the landscape. As he said, with characteristic bravado, at his January 11 news conference, he will be “the greatest jobs producer that God ever created,” and he aims to prove it. As Breitbart’s Warner Todd Huston recounted on January 17, many companies and investors are rushing to respond. And once again, MSM hecklers are having to eat their words. It must have pained CNN, for example, to print this January 19 headline about one of Trump’s interventions that some had disputed: “Trump was right about GM cars. ” Now ask yourself: In the future, is another US president, of either party, going to sit back and just watch passively while American jobs go across the border, or overseas? Now that Trump has shown what’s possible, in terms of is any American leader going to just ignore the ? Answer: Of course not. The idea of letting jobs drift away, in the name of the free market, or of globalism, is over. Good riddance! Coming next: More on lions in politics.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrats on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees said on Friday a report on Russian activity related to the 2016 U.S. election should inspire a strong response to prevent a repeat. “The strength of America’s democracy will be measured, in part, on how we respond, and the steps we take to develop a robust and proactive cyber strategy,” said Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate panel. Representative Adam Schiff, his counterpart on the House panel, said Congress must undertake “thorough investigations” to determine what happened and how, and how to protect the U.S. government.
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President Obama just announced another major shakeup in the last year of his presidency, and the oil companies aren t liking it that much is for sure. On Thursday, Obama revealed his plan to place a $10 fee on every single barrel of oil produced in the country. Considering the current U.S. crude trading price of $31.72 a gallon, that s a pretty hefty tax.Also this appears to be a death tax to oil entirely. And, it could make life for the oil companies unbearable. Remember just one year ago, oil was going for nearly twice as much as what it is now. While in the midterm oil will fluctuate up and down, over time it s trajectory has been going downward. Who knows what the price of oil will be when the tax proposal goes through, if ever?While Republicans still control a majority of Congress and refuse to take up the proposal, Obama s declaration to get rid of oil has already had its impact on the markets. It didn t even take one day and already oil is down 2 percent after the announcement.Keep in mind, Russia and Iran two major countries that Republicans say are our bitter enemies well their entire economies rely heavily on oil. When oil does bad, so do their pockets. Divesting ourselves from oil is a national security concern. If anything, Republicans are hurting our national security from this viewpoint.The idea is not just to penalize oil companies and Republicans (that s wishful thinking) though, the real issue here is thinking about the future of America s energy and what s in the country s best interest. Green energy is; carbon isn t.Here s what Obama plans to do with the money raised from the new tax:-Invest $20 billion to reduce traffic and improve commuting. Think about that that s more funding than the EPA and Interior Department combined. A lot of this money will go towards alternative transportation options. Think about the Hyperloop being constructed between Los Angeles and San Francisco by billionaire Elon Musk. It s supposed to completely alter our thinking about traveling long distances entirely. And it s 100% green. That s what this country needs.-Invest $10 billion into state and local transportation and climate programs.-Put $2 billion into research for clean vehicles and aircraft.The White House sees this as the first step in an ambitious new plan for the 21st Century of clean transportation: By placing a fee on oil, the president s plan creates a clear incentive for private-sector innovation to reduce our reliance on oil and at the same time invests in clean energy technologies that will power our future. Former Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania is calling Obama s plan the boldest transportation blueprint since Eisenhower. Considering many think Eisenhower is the last great Republican president to take the oath of office, that s quite the compliment. Since then we ve just been bumping along, doing short-term fixes, and I give them a lot of credit for laying out this kind of long-term investment. I also give them credit for having the guts to say how they would pay for it all. That s very unusual in this area. While it may not pass muster in Congress, that s not what matters here. This proposal is a vision for the future of the country. And, it makes sense. The only thing that s going to get something like this implemented in Congress is voters going to the polls and voting overwhelmingly to fire Republicans on the Hill, as well as seeing to it that a Democrat is sworn in as president. Only then will people be able to follow through on this future vision of change for our country. And, in the meantime, it is kind of fun pissing the oil companies and Republicans off by talking about it.Featured image from Public Domain Files
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MADRID (Reuters) - Support for the creation of an independent state of Catalonia rose to an almost 3-year high in October according to an official regional survey published on Tuesday. Some 48.7 percent of Catalans believe the Spanish region should be independent, according to the poll from Centre d Estudis d Opinio, up from 41.1 pct in June and the highest since December 2014. The poll was based on 1,338 interviews taken between Oct. 16 and Oct. 29.
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21st Century Wire says Facebook is partnering with Snopes.com and other sites which have apparently been unofficially deemed the new ministries of truth to decide what is and what is not Fake News. Do we trust these agencies more than we trust the intelligence of 21WIRE Facebook followers to discern, on their own, what is Fake News and what is credible Absolutely not.You decide: Is Facebook really cracking down on fake news or is it making it easier for the establishment to burry stories from one of the most widely used sources of news link sharing on the internet? Alex Heath Business InsiderFacebook is going to start fact checking, labeling, and burying fake news and hoaxes in the News Feed, the company announced on Thursday.The decision comes after Facebook received heated criticism for its role in spreading a deluge of political misinformation during the U.S. presidential election, like one story that falsely said the Pope had endorsed Donald Trump.To combat fake news, Facebook has partnered with a shortlist of media organizations, including Snopes and ABC News, that are part of an international fact-checking network led by Poynter, a nonprofit school for journalism located in St. Petersburg, Florida.Starting as a test with a small percentage of its users in the United States, Facebook will make it easier to report news stories that are fake or misleading. Once third-party fact checkers have confirmed that the story is fake, it will be labeled as such and demoted in the News Feed.A company spokesperson told Business Insider that the social network will also use other signals, like algorithms that detect whether a story that appears fake is going viral, to determine if it should label the story as fake and bury it in peoples feeds. We ve focused our efforts on the worst of the worst, on the clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain, and on engaging both our community and third party organizations, Facebook News Feed chief Adam Mosseri said in a company blog post on Thursday.A team of Facebook researchers will also review website domains and send sites that appear to be fake or spoofed (like washingtonpost.co ) to third-party fact checkers, a Facebook spokesperson said. Of the 42 news organizations that have committed to Poynter s fact-checking code of ethics, Facebook is starting out with the following four Snopes, Factcheck.org, ABC News, and PolitiFact. We are only involved to the extent that Facebook relies on the list of signatories to our code of principles as a starting point for the organizations it chooses to verify, a Poynter spokesperson told Business Insider. Facebook is the only organization certifying third party fact-checkers on its platform. Facebook has given its four initial fact-checking partners access to a tool that will let them label stories in the News Feed as fake, a Facebook spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that Facebook is not paying the organizations to fact check Continue the story at Business InsiderREAD MORE MSM LIES AT: 21st Century Wire MSM Watch Files
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Crooked Hillary has met her match: Hillary Clinton turned the State Department into her private hedge fund. Here is Trump s speech in its entirety. It is one of his best speeches to date and truly worth watching to the end.https://youtu.be/nO7GAbBoIF0
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - In a year of police shooting protests, historic hurricane flooding and voting rights clashes in North Carolina, it is the battle over bathrooms that could prove pivotal in the Tar Heel state’s gubernatorial race. The election will effectively serve as a referendum on a state law that bans transgender people from using government-run restrooms that match their gender identity and limits protections for gays and lesbians. Signed by Republican Governor Pat McCrory in March, the law has been blamed for hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses and the relocation of major sporting events from the ninth largest U.S. state. Opponents of the law say the vote on Tuesday also could have national implications. If McCrory loses to Democratic challenger Roy Cooper, they said, elected officials backing such measures in other states will face greater political risk. “I believe a strong message already has been sent to lawmakers across the country,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization. “I believe and hope on Election Day that an even stronger message will be sent.” The advocacy group has joined with Equality North Carolina for a broad effort to boost voter turnout and unseat McCrory and other supporters of the law known as House Bill 2. The organizations are targeting about 400,000 pro-equality voters in the state, including an estimated 255,800 LGBT voters, Griffin said. The Human Rights Campaign said that voting bloc could make a difference in a presidential swing state where Democrat Barack Obama won by about 14,000 votes in 2008 and Republican Mitt Romney led by about 92,000 votes in 2012. “There’s no question this is going to be a very close race at the top of the ticket, and the LGBTQ voting bloc really has the ability to impact the outcome of this election,” said Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality North Carolina. RACE A TOSS-UP Elections experts consider the race between McCrory and Cooper, one of 12 U.S. gubernatorial seats being decided on Tuesday, to be among the country’s most competitive. Public opinion polls have been tight most of the year, though the RealClearPolitics average of recent surveys shows Cooper with a slight advantage. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll found that, among residents who expect to vote, 38 percent were less likely to support McCrory’s re-election bid as a result of the law and its fallout, compared with 32 percent who were more likely to support him. The poll was conducted online in English between Oct. 6 and Oct. 19. It included 1,233 likely voters and had a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points. Other polls have shown a majority of residents believe the law is hurting the state. McCrory, who in 2012 became North Carolina’s first Republican governor in two decades, has blamed the backlash against the law on national groups trying to redefine gender and “basic norms of privacy.” Cooper says the law is discriminatory, and he has made McCrory’s support for it a central issue of his campaign. An ad campaign launched last week by the conservative NC Values Coalition accuses Cooper, the state’s attorney general since 2001, of putting women and children at risk by refusing to defend H.B. 2. “By not defending it, he’s allowing men into women’s bathrooms,” the group’s executive director, Tami Fitzgerald, said in a phone interview. “We think that just goes too far.” “Equality NC and HRC have made North Carolina ground zero for their radical LGBT agenda,” she added. “But I believe that their efforts will fail.” At early voting sites in North Carolina this week, the issue appeared to be galvanizing people on both sides. “I admire McCrory for standing behind H.B. 2,” said Republican Parker Umstead, 81, a certified public accountant who cast a ballot in Winston-Salem for the incumbent. “It takes courage to stand up for your beliefs.” But Holly Carpenter, a 41-year-old Republican from Cary who works in the medical field, cited the measure as the prime reason why she voted against McCrory, whom she supported in 2012. “To lose so many economic opportunities over that was just a huge negative for me,” she said.
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The crew at Saturday Night Live once again did something that will likely send Donald Trump the undeservedly affluent and unstable man-child to whom the nuclear football will be handed off in January into yet another irrational Twitter tantrum.Lately, The Donald s cabinet picks have left many scratching their heads someone who wants to eliminate public schools as Secretary of Education, a climate change denier as head of the EPA, an oil drilling advocate to head up the Department of the Interior, and a white supremacist well anywhere, for example. To the casual observer, the expert, and anyone who doesn t want to send the country screaming into a death spiral, these may seem like nonsensical picks a rational person would not even consider and they are but at least the SNL cast is here to make us laugh as we do our best not to think about the hellscape into which Trump will do his damnedest to transform America in the next four years.In the newest cold open, Kate McKinnon s Kellyanne Conway announces Trump s pick for the DEA Bryan Cranston s Walter White. I like his style, White, who knows the DEA better than anyone, inside and out, said after the announcement. I also like that wall he wants to build. Nothing comes in from Mexico, meaning, a lot less competition for the rest of us. Conway added that White is actually a genius with chemicals and we re lucky to get him. It s time to make America cook again, Cranston says. We want to fill this nation with red white and a lot of blue. This segment is hilarious, but it drives home a very important point: Donald Trump seems to be working to undermine various agencies by appointing people who are too unqualified or too evil to run them.Watch the cold open below:
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U.S. authorities said Friday there is no known threat to the American homeland in the wake of the deadly terror attacks in Paris, but cities across the country were taking precautions while intelligence officials expressed alarm over the methodology and planning that was evident behind the terrorist acts.
More than 120 people were killed when a series of apparently coordinated shootings and explosions rocked Paris, which officials said evoked memories of the deadly 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India.
"The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are closely monitoring events in Paris and we are in contact with our counterparts in the region," Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement. "At this time, we know of no specific or credible threats of an attack on the U.S. homeland of the type that occurred in Paris tonight."
It is still unclear who was behind the attacks. One U.S. counterterrorism official told CNN that the attacks resemble tactics that have been used by a number of terror groups -- including al Qaeda's focus on mass casualty and visibility, and the small, tactical nature of attacks that are more the hallmark of ISIS and its acolytes.
The official noted that Algerian terrorist groups have attacked in Paris in the past, though they don't have much capability to do what unfolded in Paris. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are still trying to determine if there are any U.S. connections with the terrorists or the victims and are working with their French counterparts to ensure there are no immediate threats to the U.S. Two additional U.S. counterterrorism officials told CNN that authorities across the U.S. have convened secure conference calls to try and gather information. And a federal law enforcement official said federal authorities are working with local police agencies around the country to task sources domestically and internationally for information about any individuals possibly associated with the attacks. They're also going back to look at whether there was any intelligence missed indicating these attacks were going to happen, the law enforcement official said, adding that the FBI is also putting additional personnel on standby to be deployed to France to offer any support such as bomb technicians and computer analysts. President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, second from right, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo arrive at the Bataclan, site of one of the Paris terrorists attacks, to pay their respects to the victims after Obama arrived in town for the COP21 climate change conference early on Monday, November 30, in Paris. The Eiffel Tower in Paris is illuminated in the French national colors on Monday, November 16. Displays of support for the French people were evident at landmarks around the globe after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, November 13. People hold hands as they observe a minute of silence in Lyon, France, on November 16, three days after the Paris attacks. A minute of silence was observed throughout the country in memory of the victims of the country's deadliest violence since World War II. French President Francois Hollande, center, flanked by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, right, and French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, center left, stands among students during a minute of silence in the courtyard of the Sorbonne University in Paris on November 16. A large crowd gathers to lay flowers and candles in front of the Carillon restaurant in Paris on Sunday, November 15. A man sits next to candles lit as homage to the victims of the deadly attacks in Paris at a square in Rio de Janeiro on November 15. People light candles in tribute to the Paris victims on November 15 in Budapest, Hungary. People gather outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on November 15 for a national service for the victims of the city's terror attacks. People write messages on the ground at Place de la Republique in Paris on November 15. People pray during a candlelight vigil for victims of the Paris attacks at a church in Islamabad, Pakistan, on November 15. French golfer Gregory Bourdy passes a peace symbol for the Paris victims during the BMW Shanghai Masters tournament November 15 in Shanghai, China. A man offers a prayer in memory of victims of the Paris attacks at the French Embassy in Tokyo on November 15. A woman holds a candle atop a miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower during a candlelight vigil Saturday, November 14, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Front pages of Japanese newspapers in Tokyo show coverage and photos of the Paris attacks on November 14. An electronic billboard on a canal in Milan, Italy reads, in French, "I'm Paris," on November 14. The Eiffel Tower stands dark as a mourning gesture on November 14, in Paris. More than 125 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks in Paris on Friday. People around the world reacted in horror to the deadly terrorist assaults. Lithuanians hold a candlelight vigil in front of the French Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, on November 14. Thousands gather in London's Trafalgar Square for a candlelit vigil on November 14 to honor the victims of the Paris attacks. A woman lights candles at a memorial near the Bataclan theater in Paris on November 14. A man places a candle in front of Le Carillon cafe in Paris on November 14. A woman holds a French flag during a gathering in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 14. Nancy Acevedo prays for France during the opening prayer for the Sunshine Summit being held at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida on November 14. French soldiers of the United Nations' interim forces in Lebanon observe the national flag at half-staff at the contingent headquarters in the village of Deir Kifa on November 14. A couple surveys the signature sails of the Sydney Opera House lit in the colors of the French flag in Sydney on November 14. A woman places flowers in front of the French Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia, on November 14. Candles are lit in Hong Kong on November 14 to remember the scores who died in France. A woman lights a candle outside the French Consulate in Barcelona, Spain, on November 14. Britain's Prince Charles expresses solidarity with France at a birthday barbecue in his honor near Perth, Australia, on November 14. The French national flag flutters at half-staff on November 14 at its embassy in Beijing. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after a speech on November 14 in The Hague following the attacks. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe becomes emotional after his speech on the French attacks during the opening ceremony of a Japanese garden in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 14. A woman mourns outside Le Carillon bar in the 10th district of Paris on November 14. The attackers ruthlessly sought out soft targets where people were getting their weekends underway. People lay flowers outside the French Embassy in Moscow on November 14. Mourners gather outside Le Carillon bar in the 10th district of Paris on November 14. "We were listening to music when we heard what we thought were the sounds of firecrackers," a doctor from a nearby hospital who was drinking in the bar with colleagues told Le Monde. "A few moments later, it was a scene straight out of a war. Blood everywhere." People attend a vigil outside the French Consulate in Montreal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered "all of Canada's support" to France on Friday, November 13, in the wake of the attacks. Police show a heightened presence in Times Square in New York on November 13, following the terrorist attacks in Paris. People light candles at a vigil outside the French Consulate in Montreal on November 13. University of Nevada, Las Vegas, fans observe a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris before a basketball game November 13. The house lights are shut off and scoreboard dark as Boston Celtics players pause for a moment of silence for the Paris victims before an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks in Boston on November 13. People light candles at a vigil outside the French Consulate in Montreal on November 13. One of the primary reasons for alarm among U.S. counterterrorism officials is the lack of relevant intelligence before the attacks began. Intelligence agencies are looking at communications intercepts for clues as to any advanced planning or coordination, a U.S. intelligence official said. The U.S. collects overseas communications in Europe and elsewhere, and in the past, such reviews have uncovered emails and other communications that show planning, the intelligence official added. Local police departments moved quickly to place units on extra alert. In Los Angeles, extra police were deployed at critical sites like airports. In Washington, enhanced patrols were sent near the Capitol. In New York City, the New York Police Department was giving special attention and increasing its presence at soft targets such as nightclubs, theaters and museums, along with locations tied to France, another federal law enforcement official said. Authorities are also scrutinizing known terror suspects in the U.S. and boosting surveillance of them, the law enforcement officials said. "We will not hesitate to adjust our security posture, as appropriate, to protect the American people," an FBI spokesperson said in a statement. "DHS and the FBI routinely share information with our state, local, federal and international law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security partners, and continually evaluate the level of protection we provide at federal facilities." Sign up for CNN Politics' Nightcap newsletter, serving up today's best and tomorrow's essentials in politics.
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21st Century Wire says If there is no real terrorist threat, then the thing to do is to create one. Such is the received wisdom of today s Federal Bureau of Investigation.According to its latest public relations release by the FBI s counter terrorism department, the agency plans to significantly increased its use of stings in order to catch would-be terrorists. In other words, it s planning to ramp-up its policy of using entrapment in order to organize, recruit, train and even supply materials to budding neophyte terrorists in the US.This should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following these incidents. In spite the grand announcement, in reality all the FBI has been doing for the last 25 years are just that: stings, stings and more stings FBI Direct: James Comey has spend a lot of time in front of Congress this year. The logic is astounding, if not insane, but for some reason, this type of antiquated thinking still dominated US federal law enforcement institutions: We re not going to wait for the person to mobilize on his own time line, said Michael B. Steinbach, who leads the F.B.I. s national security branch. He added that the F.B.I. could not afford to just sit and wait knowing the individual is actively plotting. Since before 9/11, FBI agents have relied on the practice of using informants to pose as jihadi radicals or small arms dealers, in order to excite and recruit fringe members of society into constructive pursuits such as bomb-making, and will often bring them to the scene of a mock terrorists crime before agents leap out from behind the shadows to make a high-profile arrest of the unwitting dupe/suspect.In 2016, most of the recruitment required to assemble these theatrical, state-managed scenarios is done online via friends on social media, as FBI cyber agents look for individuals who appear to be supporting ISIS or Al-Qaeda. If successful, online grooming transitions to real world meeting, and with any luck blossoms into a contrived terror plot courtesy of the FBI confidential informant. 1993 WTC BOMBER: Ramzi Yousef.Perhaps the best-ever example of a FBI sting resulting in a real terrorist attack is an event which the mindless US mainstream media still wrongly attribute to real terrorists the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing.In this all-FBI-hatched plot, the agency used at least one known informant, a man named Emad Salem, a former Egyptian army officer. Salem later demonstrated on secret recording he made how the FBI originally asked him to supply the conspirators with harmless powder instead of actual explosive to construct their bomb, but for reasons still (officially) unknown, the FBI chose to allow a real bomb to be deployed at the WTC on the day of the supposed sting .Author Tom Secker at Global Research explains it in the simplest terms: this relatively ragtag group who were inspired by CIA asset the Blind Sheikh and trained by triple agent Ali Mohamed managed to pull off the bombing. The result was a bomb detonating underneath the WTC and putting thousands of innocent Americans at risk.Still, ever single major US television and newspaper outlet still moronically refers to the 1993 WTC event as a terrorist attack on American soil. Team America: Fabricated TerrorAccording to the FBI s own records, nearly 70% of (reported) ISIS-linked terrorist prosecutions (not convictions) are being cooked-up via the use of informants and stings/entrapment: Undercover operations, once seen as a last resort, are now used in about two of every three prosecutions involving people suspected of supporting the Islamic State, a sharp rise in the span of just two years, according to a New York Times analysis. Charges have been brought against nearly 90 Americans believed to be linked to the group. Back in May, the FBI arrested a man, James Medina, for allegedly for planning an attack on a Miami-area Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center synagogue with an explosive device. As it turns out, the synagogue was never actually in any real danger as the bomb was a fake sold to him by an FBI undercover agent, before the man was stopped before the man was stopped by FBI agents posing as fellow terrorists who set up a sting operation. FBI chat-up lines: Are you a Muslim? Which Mosque do you go to? Do you know al-Qaeda? In 2015, one classic exhibit was the frame-up of 20 year old Christopher Lee Cornell, snared in one of the most bogus fake terror plot ever, and yet the US mainstream media couldn t stop gushing over the event as if it were an ISIS-inspired attack , only no attack actually took place.According to David Steele, a 20-year Marine Corps intelligence officer and former-CIA case officer, most US terror plots are cooked by by US authorities: Most terrorists are false flag terrorists, or are created by our own security services. In the United States, every single terrorist incident we have had has been a false flag, or has been an informant pushed on by the FBI. In fact, we now have citizens taking out restraining orders against FBI informants that are trying to incite terrorism. We ve become a lunatic asylum. Some other similar would-be high-profile terror icons and patsies include: Paris Shooter Amedi Coulibaby (see his incredible informant case here), Ottawa Shooter Zehaf-Bibeau (see his patsy story here), Boston Bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev (see his informant story here), The Underwear Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (see his patsy story here), Buford Rogers (read his informant story here), Jerad Miller (read his informant story here), Naji Mansour (read his entrapment story here), Quazi Mohammad Nafis (read his patsy story here), Mohamed Osman Mohamud (read his entrapment story here), and even the infamous OKC Bomber Timothy McVeigh (read his sheep-dipped, patsy story here).In reality, it is the covert culture of Washington DC which does more to promote genuine terrorism, at home and internationally much more than any other single nation state outside of Saudi Arabia and Israel. Until the major of people realize thisREAD MORE ZANY FBI PLOTS AT: 21st Century Wire Daily Shooter FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK & BECOME A 21WIRE.TV MEMBER HERE
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Proof that sanity still exists on college campuses.Capitalists on campus won t have to stand by any longer while communists and socialists celebrate May Day, as they ve appropriated the holiday. Turning Point USA offered free materials to students with a comprehensive plan for the Socialism Sucks Day of Action.More than 500 campuses are participating in the counter-celebration on Monday. I want the American Dream. Socialism only takes away my chance to start a multi-billion company in my apartment, Turning Point USA s Josh Thifault declared. It s important that we stick to the values that made our country great capitalism and freedom. Some students have caught on to what Venezuela has learned the hard way. Venezuela s brewing company, responsible for 80 percent of its beer supply, began to shut down its last plant on Friday, according to The Wall Street Journal. In addition to how Venezuelans like to celebrate, there is concern because the beer factory also provided jobs. The country has suffered food shortages and power outages, and can no longer afford to print its own money. Venezuelans are also learning that socialism sucks and are petitioning to recall President Nicol s Maduro.In stark contrast to the student activities in other parts of America, May Day was celebrated with violence in Seattle. At least nine were arrested for pelting officers with rocks, batons, and molotov cocktails, which injured at least five officers. The violence has been an annual trend in Seattle for May Day, as Yahoo! News reported.Only 33 percent of young people support socialism, according to a recent Harvard IOP poll.Via: Red Alert Politics
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Barack only needs to find the closest mirror to understand where the increase in racism and distrust in our over-reaching government originated. He is without a doubt, the most divisive President in the history of the United States of America. Dividing our nation will be his legacy President Barack Obama accused right wing talk radio and cable channels like Fox News of angering white people in America about the economy, arguing that it was actually doing really well under his administration.During his speech, Obama decried Republicans who campaigned on stopping welfare queens complaining about makers and takers and even referred to Mitt Romney s 47 percent comment. Their basic message is anti-government, anti-immigrant, anti-trade, and let s face it it s anti-change, Obama said, accusing them of lying just to oppose him. What they are saying just isn t true, he said, before launching his own attempt at mythbusting narratives from conservative media.Obama complained that people failed to recognize that he was succeeding in improving the economy, cutting the deficit, and cutting spending. It s the story that is broadcast every day on some cable news stations, on right wing radio it s pumped into cars and bars and VFW halls all across America and right here in Elkhart, he said. If you re hearing that story all the time, you start believing it. It s no wonder people start thinking big government is the problem. Because of conservative radio, Obama argued, White Americans think that reverse discrimination is as big a problem as discrimination against minorities. Obama argued they were wrong, since black unemployment was still twice as high as white unemployment and Hispanic women earned 55 cents for every dollar earned by a white man. Obama warned voters against listening to Trump s political argument. The one thing I can promise you is if we turn against each other based on divisions of race and religion if we fall for a bunch of okey-doke just because it sounds funny or the tweets are provocative, then we re not going to build on the progress we started. At one point, Obama stuttered repeatedly when speaking about Trump.Our President without a teleprompter:https://vine.co/v/iVLaiJxdqV2Obama made his speech at Elkhart, Indiana, where a majority of voters in the county voted against him in the 2012 presidential election. One person in the crowd shouted one more time! suggesting that she wanted Obama to run again for office. No I can t do that, Obama said. The Constitution prohibits it but more importantly Michelle prohibits it. Via: Breitbart News
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Sputnik Radio s new program Trend Storm is hosted by American geopolitical analyst and writer Andrew Korybko. This week, Andrew explores what s really driving the media uproar and political protests surrounding President Trump s executive order on immigration Andrew Korybko Trend StormUS President Donald Trump s controversial Executive Order to temporarily limit the entrance of select foreign nationals to the US is becoming a larger-than-life scandal of epic proportions.Following through on yet another of his campaign promises, America s new leader has banned people from seven countries from entering the US, building off of the list of supposedly terrorist-prone countries that his predecessor first identified. The immediacy of the order caught many people off guard, and there was confusion about whether it would apply to permanent residents (green card-holders), already-vetted refugees, and individuals in transit. Almost immediately after the announcement was made last Friday, thousands of people across the US flocked to their local airports to protest the measure. In doing so, they defied what are ordinarily strict security measures, which during regular times would prohibit such large-scale gatherings at locations considered essential to the nation s infrastructure.The protesters claimed that Trump had banned Muslims from entering the US, and the hashtag #MuslimBan instantly started trending on Twitter. In defense of the motion, Trump and his surrogates said that most majority-Muslim countries were untouched by the temporary border restrictions, pointing out that Indonesia the world s most populous Muslim country isn t on the list, for example. Moreover, in a cynical retort to the critics, they reminded the public that Obama had earlier suspended the US refugee program for Iraqi nationals for half a year back in 2011, though no such protests erupted at that time. Nevertheless, it s hard for the Trump Administration to shake the social media stigma that this is a Muslim Ban , no matter how convincingly they may argue that it amounts to nothing more than a brief review period for high-risk countries prior to the implementation of what s being called extreme vetting. This is because the mainstream US media is very sympathetic to what Trump and his spokespeople have termed the political opposition, namely, the Democratic Party.The perception management and narrative-building that these two institutions are known for was seen vividly and on full display during the presidential campaign, but it s gotten even more intense since Trump s election. Just like back then, however, it doesn t seem to be doing its intended job, since a Reuters poll released on Tuesday found that 49% of Americans are in favor of the President s action, while 41% are against it.Patrick Henningsen, Founder and Executive Editor of 21stCenturyWire.com and the host of the Sunday Wire Show, and Don DeBar, host of a syndicated daily radio newscast CPR News heard across the US, commented on the issue . READ MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE NOW & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV
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Listen to the first 30 min segment of this new fortnightly podcast, ON THE QT , hosted by Patrick Henningsen. This new show brings together a number of news stories not covered on the SUNDAY WIRE, as well as additional deep state and geopolitical analysis covering key international events as we read between the headlines.THIS WEEK: Julian Assange is about to drop another Wiki-bomb on the Clinton family s drive to power. What s behind it, the motivations, and will it derail the Clinton political machine? We ll also look at how rigid politically correct regimes transforming university campus life Listen to Episode 4 Part 1 (25 min 30 sec) for FREE on the audio player below. Enjoy the show TO HEAR PART ONE OF EPISODE #4 CLICK HEREIf you like it and would like to hear the FULL episode, as well as enjoy all our premium content for members, subscribe and become a member @21WIRE.TV
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The calamity brought upon the Republican Party by Donald Trump was laid bare Thursday by its two most recent presidential nominees, who delivered unprecedented denunciations of the candidate that set the stage for a raucous evening debate.
Mitt Romney awoke from his political hibernation to deliver a sweeping, point-by-point indictment of Trump — of his policy proposals, his business dealings, his erratic judgments, his moral character, and his insults to women, Latinos and the disabled. The former GOP nominee, who sought and accepted Trump’s endorsement in 2012, implored Republicans to now reject the billionaire he labeled “a phony” and “a fraud.”
Trump’s three rivals took up similar attacks later Thursday night at a Fox News Channel debate in Detroit in which the ferocious sparring and name-calling revolved almost entirely around the front-runner.
What started with Trump asserting that he was well endowed in a rejoinder to Rubio’s campaign-trail joke about his manhood devolved into an ugly affair, with the candidates yelling over each other, at times unintelligibly, as they sought to discredit one another.
Taken as a whole, the day only served to harden the divisions tearing the GOP apart and raise dire doubts about whether its factions could unite in the general election.
It began at sunrise in Palm Beach, Fla., where Trump phoned into network television shows to mock Romney as a failed politician. Then, in Salt Lake City, Romney gave his speech asserting that Trump was a danger to the nation and to democracy itself; in Washington, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) shared in the dismay; in Trenton, N.J., Gov. Chris Christie called a news conference to insist he was not a prisoner of Trump’s; and in Portland, Maine, Trump rallied fans by demeaning Romney with crude language.
The events culminated at nightfall in Detroit, where Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Gov. John Kasich faced Trump and tried desperately to score points against him.
The very first question was aimed at Trump, and for the next two hours the moderators and candidates quizzed, scrutinized and mocked the front-runner. He was on the defensive through much of the event, struggling to explain many of his policy ideas as well as defend his hiring of foreign workers and the manufacturing of Trump-branded clothing overseas.
“You’re making your clothes overseas, and you’re hiring your workers overseas,” Rubio said at one point, referring to the widespread use of foreign workers on visas at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach.
Trump acknowledged that he brings in foreign workers to do jobs on work visas at his club and, defending himself, said it is difficult to get American employees to work in service for the five-month period he called “the season.”
“We will bring them in and bring them out,” he said to boos.
Trump reversed himself on a key part of his immigration platform, calling for an increase in visas for highly skilled foreigners. “I’m changing,” he said. “We need highly skilled people in this country.”
Trump added, “With immigration — as with anything else — there always has to be some tug and pull and deal. . . . You have to be able to have some flexibility, some negotiation.”
The evening’s fireworks came when the candidates, exhausted after three months of breakneck campaigning, leveled caustic attacks at one another.
“This little guy has lied so much about my record,” Trump said of Rubio, whom he repeatedly called “Little Marco.”
One of the lowest points of the night came near the start, when Trump responded to a joke that Rubio had told days earlier about Trump having small hands. “You know what they say about men with small hands,” Rubio said, pausing to let the audience laugh. “You can’t trust ’em.”
“He hit my hands,” Trump said, showing his palms. “Nobody has ever hit my hands. Look at those hands. Are these small hands? And . . . if they’re small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there’s no problem.”
At times, the debate was so focused on the personal that Kasich thundered, “Let’s stop fighting!”
Cruz, too, sought to claim the moral high ground.
“I don’t think the people of America are interested in a bunch of bickering schoolchildren,” he said. “They are interested in solutions, not slogans. It’s easy to say ‘Make things better, make things great.’ You can even print it and put it on a baseball cap. But the question is, do you understand the principles that made America great in the first place?”
[The GOP’s implosion over Donald Trump’s candidacy has arrived]
Rubio and Cruz pounced on Trump regarding fraud cases filed against him and a real estate training company known as “Trump University.” Rubio said the university was “a scam.”
“They asked him for their money back, and you refused to give them their money back,” Rubio said, calling Trump a “con artist.”
Trump said the process needs to play out in court: “It’s called pending litigation.”
“The real con artist is Senator Marco Rubio,” Trump shot back, bringing up Rubio’s attendance record in the Senate. “He doesn’t go to vote. He’s absent. The people of Florida can’t stand him. He couldn’t get elected as dogcatcher.”
Cruz asserted that the GOP cannot afford a nominee “facing a fraud trial.”
“Let me just ask the voters at home,” Cruz said, “is this the debate you want playing out in the general election?”
The 11th Republican debate also marked a return engagement for Trump in his off-and-on feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, one of the co-moderators. She asked him about the possibility that he might change his immigration policies once he gets into office, citing an off-the-record meeting with the New York Times that was reported by BuzzFeed.
Rubio and Cruz tag-teamed Trump, insisting that he give the newspaper permission to release the interview. “He has a very simple solution,” Cruz said. “Simply release the tape.”
Cruz seized on the episode and others to prosecute his case that Trump has no ideological core and is flexible on a range of issues important to the conservative base.
Despite the harsh rhetoric, Cruz, Kasich and Rubio all said in response to a question that they would support Trump if he was the nominee, and Trump said he would do the same if one of his rivals won.
The hottest topic in Michigan — the tainted water scandal in Flint — was brought up in only one question, and it came more than halfway through the debate. Only Rubio was given the chance to respond, and when he did so he expressed outrage while also complaining that Democrats have politicized the issue “as if somehow Republicans woke up one morning and decided, ‘Oh, it’s a good idea to poison some kids with lead.’ It’s absurd, it’s outrageous.”
[Here’s who supports Donald Trump — and why]
Romney set the tone for the debate with his morning address at the University of Utah, where he methodically litigated the case against a Trump presidency.
“Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,” Romney said. “He’s playing members of the American public for suckers.”
Romney, himself a onetime business titan worth hundreds of millions of dollars, sought to rub away at Trump’s golden sheen.
“His bankruptcies have crushed small businesses and the men and women who work for them,” Romney said. “Whatever happened to Trump Airlines? How about Trump University? And then there’s Trump Magazine and Trump Vodka and Trump Steaks and Trump Mortgage. A business genius he is not.”
Romney said the president helps define the values and principles of the United States for the world and sets an example for young Americans. He asked his audience of roughly 700 students and other guests to ponder Trump’s “personal qualities”: “the bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third-grade theatrics.”
Trump fired back with a verbal tirade a couple of hours later at his Maine rally. He bemoaned Romney’s “nasty” critique and dismissed him as a “choke artist” who, in Trump’s assessment, botched an easy chance to turn President Obama out of office.
Trump recalled his endorsement on Romney in February of 2012, describing the candidate as yearning for Trump’s stamp of approval.
“He was begging for my endorsement,” Trump said. “I could’ve said, ‘Mitt, drop to your knees,’ and he would’ve dropped to his knees. He was begging. True. True. He was begging me.”
On the debate stage, Trump dismissed Romney in similar terms: “He failed miserably, and it was an embarrassment to the entire Republican Party.”
[The Fix: Romney did Trump a big favor by attacking him]
The clash comes at a crucial point in this unpredictable GOP primary season. Trump has won 10 of the first primaries and caucuses, including dominating this week’s Super Tuesday contests, and has a significant lead in the race for Republican convention delegates.
But in a divided field, Trump still has fewer than half the delegates awarded so far. That leaves his opponents with a viable, if risky and destructive, strategy. The only way to stop Trump from winning the nomination may be to stop anyone from winning it — dividing up the delegates so that no one has a majority.
Then, the theory goes, the party would head into a chaotic convention — the first true “floor fight” for any party in decades — and hope that a candidate other than Trump emerges.
This is just the scenario Romney encouraged when he recommended that Floridians cast ballots for Rubio, Ohioans cast ballots for Kasich, and everywhere else, voters back the candidate best positioned to deny Trump a victory in that state.
It was unclear whether Romney’s speech would move any voters away from Trump. It could have the effect of intensifying support for the rebellious outsider.
But within the Republican establishment, Romney’s speech drew immediate and enthusiastic praise. Within minutes, McCain issued a statement effectively joining forces with Romney.
“I want Republican voters to pay close attention to what our party’s most respected and knowledgeable leaders and national security experts are saying about Mr. Trump, and to think long and hard about who they want to be our next Commander-in-Chief and leader of the free world,” McCain said.
But not every member of the establishment was speaking out against Trump. Christie has been Trump’s most visible endorser of late, standing stone-faced behind Trump at his victory event Tuesday night in Palm Beach. It has sparked mocking memes on social media and laughs on late-night television.
Christie addressed that at his news conference in Trenton on Thursday.
“I want everyone to know for those who were concerned: I wasn’t being held hostage, I wasn’t upset. I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t despondent,” said Christie, who ended his candidacy last month after a disappointing finish in New Hampshire.
O’Keefe reported from Salt Lake City. Jose A. DelReal in Portland, Maine, Steve Friess in Detroit and David A. Fahrenthold in Washington contributed to this report.
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Can’t make this up: Michael Moore is pissed that his anti-Trump movie might help elect Donald Trump Posted at 7:38 am on October 27, 2016 by Greg P. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
This is really one of the funnier things we’ve seen this election.
Michael Moore has a new anti-Trump movie out called “TrumpLand,” but it’s a 4-minute clip of the movie where Moore makes the case for why Donald Trump will win that’s being shared right now by pro-Trump forces and that has the portly filmmaker all out of sorts.
For example, Donald Jr. told all of his followers to watch it on Wednesday: Hey everyone – Trump, Jr. & right wing thinks my movie called "TrumpLand" is pro-Trump! Haha. Pls don't tell them otherwise! #satire #irony pic.twitter.com/difR93uzTg
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) October 26, 2016
Trump comms guy Jason Miller thinks it’s a “must-see”, too: Michael Moore must-see (not a typo) – disagree on many issues, but he speaks with conviction and clarity here: " https://t.co/Z1mU96doRZ "
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) October 26, 2016
Whoops!
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department released the final batch of Hillary Clinton’s emails on Monday from her time at the agency’s helm, bringing the final tally of emails it says contain classified information to more than 2,000. The department has been regularly releasing batches of her work emails in keeping with a judge’s order. But Monday’s release of the final 1,700 messages does not end the controversy and legal uncertainty dogging Clinton’s Democratic presidential campaign since her use of a private email server came to light a year ago. Republican rivals in the battle for the Nov. 8 election have cited the email controversy in saying Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, is unfit for the presidency. Clinton, secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, has said her email arrangement broke no rules and that she will be vindicated. One of the newly released exchanges shows Clinton and Jake Sullivan, one of her closest aides, in a discussion now entirely censored as “secret,” the second-highest level in the government’s three-tier classification system. The messages, sent on June 7, 2012, bear the subject “Khar - where we are” - likely a reference to Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan’s foreign minister. The previous day, Pakistan had renewed its insistence that the United States apologize for an air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. All told, classified information appears in 2,093 of the 30,300 work emails and attachments Clinton’s lawyers returned to the department in 2014, including 261 such emails released on Monday. That information is obscured with white boxes in the public copies. The government forbids sending or storing classified information outside secure, government-controlled channels. The FBI has taken the server and is investigating with U.S. Justice Department attorneys whether laws were broken through the unusual arrangement. The State Department’s inspector general and at least two Republican-led congressional committees are conducting similar inquiries. The State Department is investigating how much of the information in the more than 2,000 emails marked as classified was classified at the time they were sent. The vast majority of those messages - 2,028 - contain information classified at the “confidential” level, the lowest, including scores sent by Clinton herself. A further 65 contain “secret” information, including at least one written by Clinton, while 22 contain “top-secret” information from U.S. intelligence agencies, which have been entirely withheld from release. Members of the public are still fighting the department in court for access to thousands of public records connected to some of Clinton’s closest aides. Last week, a federal judge granted a request by a conservative group suing the State Department under open records laws to seek sworn testimony from department officials and Clinton aides to see if the arrangement was intended to thwart public access to government records. Clinton’s staff has accused the government of overclassifying, and attribute the large number of emails now marked as classified to an “interagency” dispute between the State Department and intelligence agencies. At most, only a few dozen of the 2,000 classified emails included information from intelligence agencies, according to several people familiar with those agencies’ analyses of the emails. The vast majority of the classified information originated with State Department ambassadors and employees, including Clinton herself. State Department lawyers told a federal judge last week they still did not know who in the government authorized Clinton’s email arrangement or why. Clinton has said the arrangement was for her convenience, but that she now regrets it. The Justice Department, seeking to rebut suggestions that President Barack Obama’s administration may have inappropriate influence on its investigation, has not briefed the White House on its progress, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Monday. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and Idrees Ali; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Peter Cooney) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.
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(The Dec. 1 story was refiled to correct Gates’ first name to Richard in paragraph 3) (Reuters) - Michael Flynn’s plea of guilty on Friday to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation made him the fourth person known to be charged in a U.S. Justice Department investigation of ties between President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign and Russia. The other three known to be charged by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe are: ** Former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort and Richard Gates. A grand jury in October indicted Manafort, a longtime Republican political consultant, and Gates, a business associate. The two men pleaded not guilty on Oct. 30 to the 12-count indictment, whose charges include conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy against the United States and failing to register as foreign agents of Ukraine’s former pro-Russian government. Manafort has agreed to an $11.65 million bail deal that would result in his release from house arrest and electronic monitoring. ** Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos, a Chicago-based international energy lawyer, pleaded guilty on Oct. 30 to lying to FBI agents about contacts with people who claimed to have ties to top Russian officials. It was the first criminal charge alleging links between the Trump campaign and Russia. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders played down Papadopoulos’ campaign role, saying it was “extremely limited” and “any actions that he took would have been on his own.”
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LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of legislation to sever political, financial and legal ties with the European Union at its second reading, allowing the bill to move to the next stage of the parliamentary process. The opposition Labour Party, which said several clauses in the legislation amount to a power grab by government, opposed the bill but would have needed to convince EU supporters in the governing Conservatives to side with them to vote it down. After more than eight hours of debate on Monday, lawmakers voted by 326 to 290 in favor of the EU withdrawal bill, which will now go on to face days of line-by-line scrutiny.
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Trump spent the weekend golfing in Florida. By low estimates, this is Trump s 6th golf vacation of his presidency. By higher estimates, this is his eleventh. He s been in office for just two months. Why is there discrepancies? Because Trump and his staff have repeatedly lied about his golfing outings. In one egregious example, staffers said he dropped by the golf course to merely chat with friends then a pro golfer tweeted that he had just finished up a game with Trump. Oops. The White House simply will not be straight about Trump s obsession with golf.And they have every reason to be worried. Trump s vacations are costing American taxpayers millions of dollars per weekend. And while he hits the links, his administration tries to cut spending on things like after school food programs for hungry kids and Meals on Wheels for struggling seniors.It s also a reminder that Trump is a massive hypocrite. During Obama s tenure, Trump repeatedly attacked the president for using his scant vacation days to golf. Trump s Twitter history is an endless parade of hostile tweets directed at Obama:Can you believe that,with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf.Worse than Carter Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2014President Obama played golf yesterday??? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2013During his campaign, Trump vowed to never take a vacation and to never leave the White House. Instead, he s taken six weekend vacations and spends nearly all of his time at his Mar-a-Lago resort a business still owned by himself and which recently jacked up its membership fees to reflect the fact that joining now means getting the chance to rub elbows with the president.All of this to say it was more than a little ridiculous for Sean Spicer to even attempt to defend his boss s hypocrisy on this front. Trump is so clearly breaking his promises that even a shameless flack like Spicer had to feel a twinge of embarrassment for these whoppers. Nevertheless, here we are:REPORTER: In his first eight weeks in office, President Trump has made at least 10 trips to the golf course. He regularly used to criticize President Obama for spending time on the golf course, how is his golf game any different? SPICER: Well, I think two things. One is you saw him utilize this as an opportunity with [Japanese] Prime Minister Abe to, um, help foster deeper relationships in Asia and have a growing relationship that s going to help U.S. interests. How you use the game of golf is something that he s talked about. Secondly, he had a mini-Cabinet meeting the other day down in his club in Virginia and I remember so many people jumping to the conclusion that he s going down and playing golf. Just because you go somewhere doesn t necessarily mean you did it.All of what Spicer just said is unfettered garbage. For starters, President Obama frequently used his time playing golf to conduct official business, including one time inviting the Malaysian Prime Minister to a round to you guessed it help foster deeper relationships in Asia. Obama was able to accomplish that without spending every single weekend of his presidency playing golf.As to Spicer s second point: His example of Trump s mini-cabinet meeting in Virginia is an awkward one. If Trump wasn t golfing there, why was he there at all? Why move all of his staff down to a Virginia golf course that he owns just to hold a meeting he could have had at the White House? Perhaps because, as with Mar-a-Lago, Trump still owns that business and forcing the entire White House to attend a meeting there is a financial boon to Trump s own bank account. Spicer s hamfisted attempt to defend Trump s golfing actually makes him look more corrupt.Featured image via YouTube
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In light of Republican failure to pass the American Health Care Act, Charles Krauthammer dismissed the idea that Chuck Schumer would try to work with Republicans at all, since the Democrats are moving toward a single-payer system as the country increasingly expects coverage to be an entitlement:Read more: CNN
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Anniversary of Great Reporter’s Death By Daily Bell Staff - November 23, 2016
We got the very sad news today, Nov. 22, 2015, that Dave McGowan passed away from cancer at 12:47 p.m. – Truth and Shadows
We missed the anniversary of McGowan’s death, which was yesterday, but he was one helluva a writer, exposing in brief books the“directed history” of the modern era. So, we’ll remember him today. We’ve written about him before, here.
He died of an extremely aggressive form of lung cancer, which made some of his fans speculate that he’d actually been assassinated. Unfortunately, much of Dave’s work is no long freely available on the ‘Net, though some is available here .
The following is Dave’s last post here from his Blog Center for an Informed America (June 14, 2015).
Just nine weeks ago, on April 14, I presented a lengthy video deconstruction of the 2013 Boston Marathon incident through the Caravan to Midnight radio show/podcast. About a week later (on April 20, of all days), the nearly four-hour video presentation was uploaded to YouTube.
Not long after that, someone using the username Phoenix Archangel posted an interesting comment: “John [Wells, the host of the show] always signs off with some of the best advice ever. Speaking of advice: this David McGowan fella really ought to quit smoking. With all the elitist feathers he’s ruffling, he’s likely to come down with a spontaneous case of hitherto undiagnosed stage 4 inoperable Pancreatic cancer.”
… Mr./Ms Archangel … wasn’t too far off, though I’ve been told that it’s actually incurable small-cell lung cancer that has already spread to my liver and bones. And no, that’s unfortunately not a joke. It’s my new reality as of just a few short weeks ago, when my entire world was turned upside-down and I suddenly found myself being admitted to the oncology ward at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. Four days later, I was beginning my first round of chemotherapy infusions. The second round begins tomorrow, on Monday, June 15.
More from Truth and Shadows:
The first thing I read from McGowan was his series on the Apollo Moon missions called “Wagging the Moondoggie.” This amazing 14-part series is what finally convinced me that the Moon landings never took place. What struck me was not only his insight but his wit. Very dry, which is the best kind.
In addition to what became a whole series on 9/11, I was also blown away by series on the Boston Marathon “bombing” and dark side of the music scene in Laurel Canyon in the 1960s (which became a book). Other books he has written include Programmed to Kill, Understanding the F-Word: American Fascism and the Politics of Illusion, and Derailing Democracy: The America the Media Don’t Want You to See.
We ran into McGowan’s work very early in the 2000s when we were researching an article on the Peak Oil hoax. At the time, libertarian analysis was mostly theoretical, but we were trying to focus on a synthesis between free-market theory and “directed” history.
We could hardly believe McGowan’s comments on Peak Oil. Without, apparently, a deep background in Austrian free-market economics, he nonetheless fully grasped the idiocy of asserting that the modern world was running out of oil, and that since alternatives were not going to be developed in a timely manner, the only solution was drastic, government action. He even mentioned abiotic oil, see here, as we recall.
When we read his short books, we were further impressed. McGowan moved far beyond simplistic assertions of “conspiracy” to show you clearly how modern history seemed to work.
For us, the book on the mid-1960s Laurel Canyon music scene here was perhaps the most brilliant. Who knew that Jimi Hendrix was in the military, here, prior to becoming a rock star? Who knew that many of the musical stars of the early- to the mid-1960s were somehow gathered together in Laurel Canyon prior to their fame, here – and that many or most had military ties or came from military families.
McGowan didn’t state everything. Some things he left up to you. But it was hard to come away from his books without understanding his main point, that society was directed purposefully from above and that before the Internet (and people like McGowan), you would live your entire life unknowingly according to someone else’s plan.
His short book about Laurel Canyon not only shows how directed history operates, it makes the point, resonantly, that society and even culture can be shifted according to elite strategies. In other words, in not very many pages it SHOWS (not tells) how Western social manipulation actually works. Likely it has worked this way for thousands of years.
Before McGowan, it was easy to believe that social manipulation must inevitably be a clumsy affair, imposed brutally as it was in the USSR. McGowan presents ways cultural reconfiguration can take place secretly and powerfully, without anyone but a handful knowing it is happening.
For instance, the standard story of the 1960s is that young people got upset over the war and in the process of protesting, quickly created an entire counterculture that opposed much of what “corporate America” stood for. The trouble with the 1960s counterculture was that it never adequately defined the real problem, nor did it fully explain the solution.
The hippie ethos blamed much of what was wrong with America on corporate greed and the like. This led to the conclusion that government itself could rectify what was wrong. But both modern corporations and today’s massive governments are the result of monopoly force wielded behind the scenes.
In reality, as McGowan showed, the 1960s movement was likely painstakingly created to generate certain results, mostly by reinforcing social chaos. Thus, blaming problems on corporations and looking to government for solutions was only to be expected, though it was wrongheaded on numerous levels.
As we know today from Internet information, government is seemingly supported by a handful of unfathomably rich individuals – those who likely control central banking – to provide “solutions” that inevitably generate more problems not less.
We know from Austrian economics that almost every law and regulation is surely a price fix that must drain prosperity from society. We know, via “marginal utility” here that valid prices can only be generated via market competition itself.
The 1960s hippie revolution explored little of this because – as McGowan suggested – it was created and sustained by the CIA. So many 1960s figures were apparently working with the CIA.
These may have included singer Jim Morrison, whose father helped initiate the fake military incidents that Lyndon Johnson used to generate the full-on Vietnam war here – and many other musicians, promoters and business opportunists. And also those individuals who initially dispersed CIA-created LSD, here.
In fact, one can speculate that the Vietnam War itself was created as part of a Hegelian dialectic that included the creation of a manipulated 1960s alternative “hippie” culture. Each Hegelian thesis demands an antithesis that leads to a synthesis. The war was the thesis, and the counterculture was the antithesis leading to the synthesis we have today.
The goal is always globalism, apparently. And social chaos must be regularly induced in order to reinforce additional government actions. If one has the patience and the desire, it is relatively easy to discern the evolution of these modern manipulations and even to predict their future.
It’s one reason, we continue to distrust narratives present in the mainstream media and even those being offered, sometimes, in the alternative media. We’re not sure that this presidential election, for instance, is what it seems. And we have written numerous articles suggesting that a good deal of purposeful propaganda surrounds nuclear weapons, to name one additional promotion, here .
Conclusion: McGowan helped show the way, however, and we simply need to follow his lead to better our own comprehension. It’s not pleasant to pursue such information, nor come to additional conclusions, but the alternative is living in ignorance of the true influences on our life and times. Some people are content to live without embarking on such explorations. Others are not.
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Dana Loesch gives us the lowdown on what would happen to our Second Amendment with a Hillary presidency please watch and share! Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama regularly call for more Second Amendment restrictions. But yesterday, the president cut short the sentences of 214 convicts 56 of whom were in prison for gun-related crimes. In the words of Dana Loesch, We don t need gun control. We need judicial control. We need politician control.
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Just another case of Love Trumps Hate LOL! The more hate these unhinged liberals spew, the more Independent voters will be inspired to go to the polls and vote for Trump in 2020.The owner of a pickup truck that drew attention this week because of a profane anti-Trump sticker was arrested in Houston on Thursday on an outstanding warrant.Karen Fonseca was arrested about 2 p.m. on an outstanding fraud warrant issued in August by the Rosenberg, Texas, Police Department, Fort Bend County Sheriff s Office records show.Mike Fonseca, her husband, posted her $1,500 bond Thursday night and she was released an hour later, Houston s KHOU-TV reported.A sheriff s spokesman didn t respond to a message seeking details about the warrant.Previously, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls threatened Fonseca with a disorderly conduct charge over the decal. However, District Attorney John Healey said he didn t think the case would have stood up in court because of First Amendment protections on free speech.Fonseca defended her right to keep the sticker on the vehicle. It s not to cause hate or animosity, Fonseca, 46, told the Houston Chronicle. It s just our freedom of speech and we re exercising it. Fonseca said the message has been on the rear window of the pickup for nearly a year and it ll stay there for the time being. There s no law against freedom of speech, nothing in the law book here in Texas, she told KHOU-TV. I ve been stopped numerous times, but they can t write me a ticket. Nehls on Wednesday posted a photo of the profane sticker on his Facebook page, threatening the then-unidentified Fonseca with a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.A spokeswoman for the sheriff s office said Thursday that Nehls removed the post after Fonseca was identified. Due to the hate messages he has been receiving toward his wife and children, the sheriff will not be commenting on the matter further, the spokeswoman said in an email. Fox News
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A hard-line Republican effort to impeach the top U.S. tax collector came under fire on Tuesday from Democrats who called it an unsubstantiated partisan attack that could undermine the credibility of Congress. Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen faces allegations before the House Judiciary Committee of ignoring congressional subpoenas and misleading lawmakers. The accusations stem from a 2013 scandal in which the IRS was criticized for targeting conservative Tea Party groups’ applications for tax-exempt status for extra scrutiny. Some Republicans want the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to vote on impeaching Koskinen before Congress leaves for its midyear break in July. Democrats oppose the effort. “This resolution fails by every measure. It arises from the worst partisan instincts. It is not based in the facts,” Representative John Conyers said at the outset of the first of two Judiciary Committee hearings to examine charges against Koskinen. “When a vote for impeachment is divided on party lines ... we undermine our credibility,” added Conyers, the panel’s top Democrat. Koskinen angered critics by declining to testify, but submitted a statement saying the charges are without merit and fail to meet the constitutional impeachment standard of “treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors.” In his absence, the committee heard from Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which investigated the Tea Party scandal and concluded that Koskinen failed to preserve evidence that was later destroyed. “This is really a simple case in my mind. When Congress asks you a question, you’re expected to give a truthful answer. When Congress issues a subpoena, compliance is not optional,” House oversight panel Chairman Jason Chaffetz testified. Chaffetz described impeachment as the remedy Congress has for officials guilty of breaching the public trust. But Democrats noted that IRS and Federal Bureau of Investigation probes produced no evidence of criminal wrongdoing or deliberate efforts to mislead Congress. They said the case against Koskinen showed little more than agency mismanagement and misstatements. Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte offered no direct criticism of the impeachment push, but avoided using the term other than to name impeachment as one of several options that include “the power to write the laws, the power of the purse ... and the power to censure.”
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Democratic Party has selected a handful of undocumented immigrants for official roles at next week’s Democratic National Convention, in a bid to highlight the gaping policy divide on immigration between White House hopeful Hillary Clinton and Republican rival Donald Trump. Clinton is hoping to drive Latino voters to the polls on Nov. 8 to shore up her chances against Trump, who has campaigned on a promise to crack down on illegal immigration by building a wall along the Mexican border and deporting millions of undocumented foreigners if elected. “Our nation is a nation of immigrants that believes in being inclusive, and that’s exactly what we will continue to work toward,” said Leah Daughtry, the chief executive officer of the committee organizing the July 25-28 convention in Philadelphia. “The voices of our nation’s brave undocumented youth will be heard loud and clear,” Daughtry added. The picks include two members of the convention credentials and platform committees, as well as several speakers. The positions are unpaid, officials said. Trump’s campaign, which has argued that unchecked immigration hurts American workers and undermines national security, criticized the move. “Apparently speaking at Hillary Clinton’s convention is just one more job Hillary Clinton thinks Americans won’t do,” a Trump campaign aide said in an emailed statement. “She should have instead invited unemployed Americans, or victims of crime, or law enforcement.” The selections are legal because of a “deferred action program” adopted by President Barack Obama’s administration, which postpones deportations and provides work authorization for some immigrants brought to the United States as children. The Supreme Court blocked efforts to expand those protections last month. The nominations mark the first time a major U.S. political party’s convention has featured so many undocumented workers among its ranks. While there was an undocumented speaker at the 2012 Democratic convention, the party has not previously tracked the immigration status of its committee members. “It changes the whole conversation when you have someone directly affected at the table,” said Cesar Vargas, a Mexican immigrant chosen for the party’s policy platform committee. Hareth Andrade, 23, an undocumented immigrant from Bolivia who was approved under a deferred action program, was picked for the credentials committee. The convention will also feature at least two undocumented immigrant speakers, Astrid Silva and Francisca Ortiz. Clinton already has overwhelming support from minorities. Some 70 percent back her, compared with 9 percent for Trump, according to recent Reuters/Ipsos polling, suggesting that she could have a strong chance in states like Florida, Nevada and Colorado that swing between voting Democratic and Republican in presidential elections. However, voter turnout among Latinos has traditionally been low, hitting only about 40 percent in 2012, meaning her challenge is to get more of them to cast ballots this year. Luis Fraga, co-director of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, said showing a commitment to progressive reform of U.S. immigration policy could help Clinton do that. He called immigration a gateway issue for minority voters that can help engage them. That’s especially so because even Latinos born in the United States are often not far removed from family members who are immigrants themselves. “Although it’s not their individual experience, it is their family’s experience,” Fraga said.
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RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama aired his human rights concerns with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday, but his talking points on that subject are expected to be get less attention when he meets Gulf Arab monarchs on Thursday. Activists have urged the American leader to push Saudi Arabia over its human rights record, but the region’s many geopolitical crises are likely to dominate a summit already overshadowed by strained ties between Washington and the Gulf. The president, who arrived on Wednesday, hopes to allay Gulf countries’ fears over Iranian influence and encourage them to try to douse sectarian tensions in the region in an effort to confront the threat posed by Islamic State. Most of the Gulf Arab monarchies have in private been sorely disappointed by Obama’s presidency, regarding it as a period in which the United States has pulled back from the region, leaving space for their archrival Iran to expand its influence. Human rights have not figured high on the list of issues straining the relationship. But Saudi Arabia has increasingly chafed at what it sees as a campaign of vilification by Western media, think tanks and rights groups. Rob Malley, Obama’s adviser on the Middle East, said rights issues would be raised, and deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes met human rights advocates at the White House just before the Riyadh visit to hear their concerns. During a two-hour meeting on Wednesday with the Saudi king and a group of top princes, Obama expressed his broad concerns about human rights issues, the White House said, without listing specific cases. But early signs were that disagreements over human rights would be relegated to the margins of Thursday’s talks. Obama has spoken of his desire to persuade Gulf states to arrive at a “cold peace” with Iran to ease sectarian tensions and allow all sides to focus on what he sees as a greater threat emanating from Islamic State. On Thursday, he will attend a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups the monarchical states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Apart from Oman, they are ruled by Sunni Muslim dynasties that see revolutionary, Shi’ite Iran as a threat to their security and say its involvement in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen has fueled conflict and deepened sectarian divisions. The White House shares the view of Gulf Arab states that Tehran plays a destabilizing role. But its willingness to enter a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers last year caused fears in Riyadh that Washington was not listening to Gulf Arab concerns. Riyadh has come under fire in Western countries for its restrictions on women, suppression of freedom of expression, strict blasphemy rules and a judicial system that applies Islamic law and frequently beheads convicts. Rights groups are also pushing for Obama to press Saudi Arabia to end the war in Yemen, for which peace talks are due to take place in Kuwait this week, and where air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition have killed many civilians. “I urge you to take this final opportunity to speak out publicly on human rights issues inside the (Saudi) Kingdom,” Elisa Massimino, president of Human Rights First, a U.S. monitoring and activist group, wrote in an open letter. Saudi Arabia has said other countries should not interfere in its domestic affairs by criticizing its human rights record. It insists its Islamic legal system is its own business and that its courts are fair and independent. It says the war in Yemen was in support of its internationally recognized government and aimed at restoring stability. It says it has taken great care to avoid civilian casualties.
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Facebook shareholders have demanded a report on fake news and the apparent threat it poses to democracy and free speech, according to a proxy filing made on Friday. [The proposal argues that Facebook was in part responsible for the fake news epidemic that leftists claim is gripping the United States, as it provides “a financial mechanism supporting fabricated content” online. Suggested areas for the report to cover include how Facebook evaluates claims made in posts and how their strategy affects free speech. One part of the proposal highlighted some of the reasons why they believed the report was needed: Facebook is highly vulnerable, as fake news promoters are spamming their way to visibility for fake news through strategically gaming Facebook’s algorithms and publishing platform … In light of the societal crisis generated by the explosion of fake news and related hate speech, failure to effectively manage this issue creates public policy risk. Facebook’s board of directors has recommended a vote against the proposal, along with shutting down another that would compel Facebook to disclose the pay gap between male and female employees. This may come as a surprise to some, as Facebook has recently been cracking down on accounts deemed to be spreading spam or fake news. On Friday, Facebook announced it was purging a “substantial number” of accounts, created largely in South Asian countries that were spamming users. On the more political side of fake news, 30, 000 accounts linked to France were targeted ahead of their upcoming Presidential election as part of an effort to “reduce the spread of material generated through inauthentic activity, including spam, misinformation, or other deceptive content that is often shared by creators of fake accounts. ” Facebook has also enlisted the help of partisan “ ” organizations Snopes and Politifact, introducing warning labels on stories deemed to be fake news. Jack Hadfield is a student at the University of Warwick and a regular contributor to Breitbart Tech. You can like his page on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @ToryBastard_ or on Gab @JH.
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Newly released surveillance video shows that a Texas police officer lied when he arrested a young father in front of his two children, claiming the man pointed a gun at him twice.The video, just released by KHOU, shows Julian Carmona s vehicle pulling into a parking space at a Houston, Texas convenience store. His two children were in the back seat of the vehicle.The off-duty officer who claims the man pointed a gun at him, identified as William Wright of the Houston Police Department, was driving his own personal vehicle at the time of the encounter.In the first few moments of the video, Carmona can be seen pulling in behind the officer s pickup truck, before parking his own vehicle.Carmona says he was in a hurry to get inside the store because he had to use the restroom. He admits that there was a gun in the pocket of the driver s side door.Carmona says that as he was getting out of the car, the gun somehow fell out of the car. I don t know if I hit it when I opened the door, or hit it with my foot everything just happened so fast, he told KHOU.The video shows Carmona opening the door to his vehicle, then bending over as if to pick something up off of the ground. He immediately turns back toward his own vehicle, apparently to return the fallen object to the car.It s at this point that officer Wright can be seen getting out of his pickup truck with his gun drawn on Carmona. I put my hands up like, Sir, I apologized right away, Carmona said. Sir, I apologize, because the first thing that come to my mind, I dropped a gun in front of an officer, without even knowing it. Wright ordered Carmona to the ground, placing the man in handcuffs as his children watch from the car.At one point his young son can be seen getting out of the car as his father lay face down on the ground. He comes behind me, he starts handcuffing me and my son comes out of the truck. That was the last thing I wanted, he told KHOU.In his official report, Wright wrote that Carmona pointed a gun at him twice, causing him to fear for his life.He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a felony offense under Texas law.But the video clearly shows that the Texas father never pointed a gun at officer Wright.It should not go without saying that carrying a gun in a vehicle with two children riding inside is a terrible, terrible idea.From the video and Carmona s own statements, it appears that he intended to leave the gun in the car with his children while he used the convenience store bathroom. That is something no parent should ever do.Be that as it may, it s not a crime in the state of Texas.Carmona has a legal permit to carry a concealed weapon.In an apparent effort to discredit him, police brought up a 2007 charge which was dismissed through deferred adjudication.What s more, video from inside the store shows that Officer Wright has stopped there to purchase beer, something officers in uniform are barred from doing under department policy.Regardless of how you feel about concealed carry laws, there s no justification for this kind of dishonesty and abuse of power on the part of police.Here s more on this story, including footage from the surveillance video, via KHOU.Featured image via video screen capture via KHOU
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Somebody must have put some truth serum in Little Donnie s Cheerios this morning, because first thing this morning, he tweeted something that was actually nice about a federal agency that his Republican cohorts love to denigrate FEMA:Hurricane Irma is raging but we have great teams of talented and brave people already in place and ready to help. Be careful, be safe! #FEMA Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2017He didn t stop there. During a joint press conference at the White House with the Emir of the State of Kuwait, Amir al-Sabah on Thursday, Trump was asked if he thought FEMA was being spread too thin with all of the crazy weather events happening right now. Not only did he acknowledge how well FEMA was handling both Hurricane Harvey and the impending storms that have yet to come aground, but he noted that the media was actually doing their job and reporting non-fake news! Well FEMA is doing an incredible job, as you all know. I mean, you ve been reporting it. You ve seen how incredible they are. And there s a great bravery to what they re doing. Like I said, something is off when Captain Congratulations has any praise for someone other than himself.But then Trump said something that sounded distinctly like he was acknowledging the existence of climate change: We ve never had a thing like this where you get hit with Harvey, which was about as bad as it gets, certainly from the standpoint of a water dump, and then you get hit with Irma, and there s one right behind Irma. I guess you probably know, but a smaller one, but nevertheless right behind. Now, not to detract from any concessions Donald Trump might be making to science, but I think he might be forgetting Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. No matter, we ll take Trump agreeing with basic facts wherever we can get it.Watch the clip from the joint press conference here:President Trump: "Certainly we're being hit with a lot of hurricanes. We've never had a thing like this " https://t.co/xrDzAiaLuv NBC News (@NBCNews) September 7, 2017Featured image via Chris Kleponis (Pool)/Getty Images
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The Boston Globe will publish a satirical front page on Sunday, April 10, showing just how insane the news could get if Donald Trump is elected President of the United States. The page is part of an effort by the paper s editorial department to get Republicans to break out of their stupor and to stop Trump on his path to the nomination.It is every much the nightmare scenario it sounds like:The banner headline on the fake page, dated a year from Sunday, reads: Deportations to begin, President Trump calls for tripling of ICE force; riots continue. The page includes full, realistic articles about Trump s actions as president.The main story includes mentions of an Attorney General Chris Christie, and Fox News Megyn Kelly tweeting from a bar because she s been placed on a White House black list.Other stories on the fake front page include U.S. soldiers refuse orders to kill ISIS families and details such as new libel laws targeting absolute scum in the press. Another story is about how Trump had offended the Chinese first lady by naming his new dog after her.Here is an image of the front page, see a PDF here.An editor s note on the page explains their goals: This is Donald Trump s America. What you read on this page is what might happen if the GOP frontrunner can put his ideas into practice, his words into action. Many Americans might find this vision appealing, but the Globe s editorial board finds it deeply troubling. Also featured in the issue is an editorial warning America off Trump:The GOP must stop TrumpDONALD J. TRUMP S VISION for the future of our nation is as deeply disturbing as it is profoundly un-American.Trump has experienced a recent series of setbacks on the delegate front, as the party s establishment attempts to deny him the number of representatives he needs at the convention in order to be granted the nomination. At the same time, much of the establishment is now backing the campaign of the far-right Senator Ted Cruz in a desperate attempt to blunt Trump s momentum. The reality star recently suffered an embarrassing loss in Wisconsin s Republican primary, and brought on new staffers with experience fighting for delegates at the party convention, scheduled for this summer in Cleveland.Featured image via Boston Globe
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NAIROBI (Reuters) - A gunman shot and wounded a bodyguard to Kenya s deputy chief justice on Tuesday, police said, adding to an increasingly tense atmosphere two days before the East African nation is due to hold a repeat presidential election. Rashid Mohamed, the officer in charge of Dagoretti police station, told Reuters it was unclear why the bodyguard to Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu was shot or how many attackers there were. The bodyguard was shot in the shoulder and his gun was taken as he was buying pots of flowers by the side of the road, Mohamed said. Last month, the chief justice said judges have received repeated threats since the Supreme Court nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta s win in the Aug. 8 polls and ordered a fresh election.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is considering Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, for secretary of state, NBC News reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, is due to meet Trump on Sunday to discuss the position, NBC News said.
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WITTENBERG, Germany (Reuters) - Invoking the spirit of the Reformation, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for religious freedom and tolerance on Tuesday and said Germany should lend extra support to the children of refugees who have experienced awful things. We have learned that tolerance is the soul of Europe, she said at a ceremony on the 500th anniversary of the reformation in Wittenberg, where Martin Luther is said to have nailed his theses challenging Catholicism to a church door. Luther argued against what he saw as abusive practices by Catholic preachers, though the reformation divided western Christianity and resulted in violence, persecution and discrimination. Merkel, the daughter of a protestant pastor, praised Luther s translation of the Bible into a standard form of written German, which she said made its teachings accessible to the population at large. Religious education was a fundamental concern of the reformation, she said, stressing the importance of education for everyone. To learn and develop skills, some children need to be given more support than others - for example when parental support is lacking. This applies too to integrating children from refugee families who have experienced and undergone awful things. Merkel has come under fire for allowing more than one million migrants to enter Germany over the past two years - a decision that saw her conservatives bleed support to the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a national election last month. People from different backgrounds often knew too little about each other, she said, stressing the importance of dialogue between religions. Just as the freedom of belief always has to be protected from religious fanaticism, so freedom of worship, on the other hand, requires that religion be protected from contempt, Merkel added. To honor the 500th anniversary, Reformation Day was a public holiday in Germany this year.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than half of American voters believe that the system U.S. political parties use to pick their candidates for the White House is “rigged” and more than two-thirds want to see the process changed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. The results echo complaints from Republican front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders that the system is stacked against them in favor of candidates with close ties to their parties – a critique that has triggered a nationwide debate over whether the process is fair. The United States is one of just a handful of countries that gives regular voters any say in who should make it onto the presidential ballot. But the state-by-state system of primaries, caucuses and conventions is complex. The contests historically were always party events, and while the popular vote has grown in influence since the mid-20th century, the parties still have considerable sway. One quirk of the U.S. system - and the area where the parties get to flex their muscle - is the use of delegates, party members who are assigned to support contenders at their respective conventions, usually based on voting results. The parties decide how delegates are awarded in each state, with the Republicans and Democrats having different rules. The delegates’ personal opinions can come into play at the party conventions if the race is too close to call - an issue that has become a lightning rod in the current political season. Another complication is that state governments have different rules about whether voters must be registered as party members to participate. In some states, parties further restrict delegate selection to small committees of party elites, as the Republican Party in Colorado did this year. “I’d prefer to see a one-man-one-vote system,” said Royce Young, 76, a resident of Society Hill, South Carolina, who supports Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. “The process is so flawed.” Trump has repeatedly railed against the rules, at times calling them undemocratic. After the Colorado Republican Party awarded all its delegates to Ted Cruz, for example, Trump lashed out in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, charging “the system is being rigged by party operatives with ‘double-agent’ delegates who reject the decision of voters.” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has dismissed Trump’s complaints as “rhetoric” and said the rules would not be changed before the Republican convention in July. Trump swept the five Northeastern nominating contests on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The New York billionaire has 950 delegates to 560 for Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and 153 for Kasich, the Ohio governor, according to the Associated Press. A total of 1,237 delegates are needed to secure the Republican nomination. On the Democratic side, Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, has taken issue with the party’s use of superdelegates, the hundreds of elite party members who can support whomever they like at the convention and who this year overwhelmingly back front-runner Hillary Clinton. Clinton has repeatedly emphasized that she is beating Sanders in both total votes cast and in pledged delegates, those who are bound by the voting results - rendering his complaints about superdelegates moot. On Tuesday, the former secretary of state won Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut, while Sanders won in Rhode Island. Clinton leads Sanders by 2,141 delegates to 1,321, according to the AP, with 2,383 needed to win the nomination. Sanders has also criticized party bosses for not holding enough prime-time television debates and said before a string of primaries open only to registered Democrats this month that “independents have lost their right to vote,” referring to a voter block that has tended to favor him. A Democratic National Committee official was not immediately available to comment. Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said the U.S. presidential nominating system could probably be improved in a number of areas, but noted that the control wielded by party leadership usually became an issue only during tight races. “The popular vote overwhelms the rules usually, but in these close elections, everyone pays attention to these arcane rules,” he said. Some 51 percent of likely voters who responded to the April 21-26 online survey said they believed the primary system was “rigged” against some candidates. Some 71 percent of respondents said they would prefer to pick their party’s nominee with a direct vote, cutting out the use of delegates as intermediaries. The results also showed 27 percent of likely voters did not understand how the primary process works and 44 percent did not understand why delegates were involved in the first place. The responses were about the same for Republicans and Democrats. Overall, nearly half said they would also prefer a single primary day in which all states held their nominating contests together - as opposed to the current system of spreading them out for months. The poll included 1,582 Americans and had a credibility interval of 2.9 percentage points.
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Remember when Chelsea Clinton faced the same scrutiny as the Trump children by the media? Remember when the media scrutinized her involvement in the crooked Clinton Foundation, or when the media asked her why, after the email from her mother was exposed by Wikileaks that she knew the truth about the Benghazi attack having nothing to do with a video, but didn t tell anyone? Remember when the media asked her about her former Secretary of State mother and former President Barack Obama lying about the attack that left 4 Americans dead? Yeah neither do we. According to a Thursday Wall Street Journal report, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has been using a federal grand jury to assist his investigation into alleged Russian election interference. The report claims the grand jury has been in operation in Washington, DC for several weeks, although it does not provide a source for this information. As the article acknowledges, grand jury proceedings are typically sealed and participation is kept secret.The grand jury discussed is a different one from the Alexandria, Virginia one impaneled to investigate former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn earlier this year.The exact targets of Mueller s Russia grand jury were not clear from the Journal s report but Reuters followed up the report with an afternoon tweet claiming subpoenas were issued relating to Donald Trump Jr. s meetings with a Russian attorney last year. That meeting and the emails relating to it were the topic of wide media focus last month.In an accompanying report, Reuters specified two sources for their claims, indicating those close to the grand jury are breaking the confidence of that body. Leaking information from a grand jury investigation is often a federal crime. Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e)(2)(B), the following people, and more, are sworn to secrecy under threat of criminal contempt of court:(i) a grand juror;(ii) an interpreter;(iii) a court reporter;(iv) an operator of a recording device;(v) a person who transcribes recorded testimony;(vi) an attorney for the governmentThe impaneling of a grand jury alone does not indicate any burden of proof has been met or evidence uncovered regarding collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government or any other matter under Special Counsel Mueller s purview. Grand juries can be convened effectively at will by an official, like Mueller, with federal prosecutorial power.Grand juries are the means by which federal criminal indictments are issued, but also serve an investigative purpose that is likely an important aim in this case. Once impaneled, the grand jurors can, typically at the express urging of the prosecutor, issue wide-reaching subpoenas and call before them witnesses. In turn, the prosecutor can use this testimony and evidence to assemble a case for probable cause and ask the jury to issue an indictment, all without the defense counsel and other protections with which Americans are familiar from a trial setting. Breitbart
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PARIS (Reuters) - Nine people have been killed and at least seven are missing after hurricane Irma hit the France s Caribbean islands of Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said on Friday. 112 were people were injured, Collomb said, adding that there could be more victims.
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Tesla Motors came under renewed questioning about the safety of its Autopilot technology after news emerged on Wednesday of a fatal crash in China that may have occurred while the automated system was operating. The crash took place on Jan. 20 and killed Gao Yaning, 23, when the Tesla Model S he was driving slammed into a road sweeper on a highway near Handan, a city about 300 miles south of Beijing, according to a report broadcast on Wednesday by the Chinese government news channel CCTV. The report includes video looking through the windshield as the car travels in the left lane at highway speed just before ramming into a parked or orange truck. The video, apparently shot by a camera mounted on the rearview mirror, recorded no images, sounds or jolts that would suggest the driver or the car hit the brakes before impact. At that point, the video ends. “When it was approaching the road sweeper, the car didn’t put on the brake or avoid it,” a police officer said in the CCTV report. “Instead, it crashed right into it. ” In an emailed statement, Tesla said on Wednesday that it had not been able to determine whether Autopilot was active at the time of the Handan accident. The company declined to say when it learned of the fatality in China, or whether it had reported the crash to United States safety officials, who are investigating a fatal accident in Florida on May 7 in which Autopilot was engaged. So far, that Florida accident is the only confirmed death involving a Tesla with Autopilot turned on. In that accident, there was no sign that the driver or Autopilot had applied the brakes before the car collided at high speed with a that had turned in front of it. Although Tesla learned of the Florida accident a few weeks after it happened, it did not publicly disclose it until late June, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it was investigating the crash. News of the Chinese crash will renew questions about when the company should disclose information about accidents in cars equipped with Autopilot and what information should be shared. “Because of the damage caused by the collision, the car was physically incapable of transmitting log data to our servers, and we therefore have no way of knowing whether or not Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash,” a Tesla spokeswoman, Alexis Georgeson, said in the company’s statement. “We have tried repeatedly to work with our customer to investigate the cause of the crash, but he has not provided us with any additional information that would allow us to do so,” she said of the car’s owner, Mr. Gao’s father. She said Tesla was saddened to learn of the death of Mr. Gao. “We take any incident with our vehicles very seriously and immediately reached out to our customer when we learned of the crash,” she said. Tesla and Autopilot have been under scrutiny since the disclosure of the May fatality. That crash killed Joshua Brown, 40, whose 2015 Model S was traveling 74 miles per hour when it collided with a that had turned left and was crossing a highway near Williston, Fla. Autopilot’s radar and cameras failed to recognize the white truck against a bright sky. News of the China crash comes just three days after Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, outlined changes planned for Autopilot that he said would have prevented Mr. Brown’s accident and that he contended would make the Model S one of the safest cars on the road. The changes include refinements in Autopilot’s radar that improve its ability to spot and identify obstacles down the road and additional warnings to force drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road while the system is active. Tesla has said Autopilot is not meant to take over completely for a human driver. When Autopilot is turned on, drivers are given audio and text warnings to remain alert and engaged while using it. In August, Reuters reported that Tesla removed a Chinese term for “ ” from its China website after a driver in Beijing had a nonfatal crash while Autopilot was engaged. That driver later complained that the carmaker had oversold Autopilot’s capability. The video of the January accident indicates the type of unexpected problem that can crop up at highway speeds. Critics of Autopilot say a driver can be lulled into complacency, leaving too little time to take back control of the vehicle. Mr. Gao was traveling in the left lane of a highway with another car ahead of him. When the car ahead moved into the center lane, it revealed the orange truck, which was straddling the road’s left shoulder. Mr. Gao’s car never slowed before plowing into the truck. Police investigators concluded that Mr. Gao was responsible for the accident, CCTV reported. But in July his family sued the dealer who had sold the Tesla. The driver’s father, Gao Jubin, told CCTV he thought his son had been relying on Autopilot to drive the car and so was not watching the road when the crash took place. The lawsuit was filed “to let the public know that technology has some defects,” the family’s lawyer said in the report. “We are hoping Tesla, when marketing its products, will be more cautious. Don’t just use as a selling point for young people. ”
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican head of a House of Representatives committee said on Tuesday he was offering a bill to keep the U.S. government funded through April, ahead of a Friday deadline to keep agencies running. House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said in a statement the short-term Continuing Resolution would fund the federal government until April 28, and included money for emergency disaster relief. The move would give incoming Republican President-elect Donald Trump more of a say on budget and appropriations issues, allowing him to set funding priorities for the remainder of fiscal year 2017, which ends on Sept. 30. The bill also contains a provision that will make it easier for Trump’s choice as defense secretary, General James Mattis, to pass a bureaucratic hurdle to his appointment. Since he retired only in 2013, Mattis will need Congress to waive a requirement that he be a civilian for at least seven years before taking the top job at the Pentagon. Rogers expressed disappointment at having to offer the bill, which suspends months of work by lawmakers and their staffs on full-scale appropriations bills Congress had intended to enact before the end of the year. “This type of short-term spending absolutely should not be the final answer to funding the federal government for the year,” he said in the statement. “This legislation is just a band aid, but a critical one. It will give the next Congress the time to complete the annual Appropriations process, and in the meantime, take care of immediate national funding needs,” Rogers added. Democrats and some Republicans have said such a decision was a mistake that could lead to a more difficult appropriations task next year.
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PARIS (Reuters) - There was a time when angry French workers could down tools and take to the streets en masse to force ministers to back down. But things have changed, making President Emmanuel Macron s job of pushing through labor reforms that much easier. Barely 26,000 attended one Paris rally on Tuesday to protest against the reforms, a fraction of the hundreds of thousands who went on strike in the heyday of French industrial action freezing activity in swathes of the economy. French strikes are not what they used to be, reflecting a cooling in national attitude to union militancy plus a change in approach by Macron who flagged his reforms well in advance to union leaders who have in turn seen their powers decline. This means the 39-year-old former investment banker has the best opportunity in generations to overhaul France s labor laws in his strategy to invigorate the EU s second-largest economy. Fundamentally it is not a very strike-prone country any more, said Bob Hancke, a labor relations expert at the London School of Economics. In the mid-1990s, the joke was practically everyone had been a trade union member but no one ever stayed. In 2015, companies in France lost 69 days to strikes per 1,000 workers. That was barely a fifth of what it was in the late 1990s and a far cry from the 1,000 days lost to strikes per 1,000 workers in the late 1980s. The decline has accelerated since conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy passed a law in 2007 banning wildcat walkouts and forcing public transport unions to guarantee a minimum service during strikes. While it is possible that protests will gain momentum when Macron unveils more hard-hitting reforms over the next year, including changes to unemployment benefits and pensions, things have so far played in his favor. Unionists and labor experts interviewed for this story said one critical factor is that big, nationwide strikes have achieved little for the average worker in the past two decades. Governments eventually realized they could just force things through, said Stephane Sirot, a professor at the Cergy-Pontoise university. An important point came in 2003, when a mass public-sector protest against pension reform failed to convince the government to budge, he said. The last significant nationwide success enjoyed by unions was in 1995, when weeks of protests, also over pension reform, virtually brought the economy to a halt. Since those strikes, which forced newly elected President Jacques Chirac to yield, major standoffs with successive governments have had mixed results. That s the main difficulty for unions, said Sirot. They don t win anymore. Taking part in a march in Paris against Macron s reforms on Tuesday, Sarah, an activist for 20 years in the Sud Nettoyage cleaners union, said it was harder to get colleagues to strike. Many have been demotivated, she said. With their heart they are with us but it s more difficult to mobilize them, she said, adding that the young were particularly ambivalent about the effectiveness of strikes and street protests. Around 10 percent of French workers are unionized, according to labor ministry data, with the average member more likely to be older and with a permanent job. At the same protest rally in Paris on Tuesday, Marie-Josee da Silva, a 49-year old hospital care-worker, said she was marching on principle rather than out of any real hope that the rally would convince the government to change course. Tuesday s strike shut down some French schools and led to about a third of flights being canceled at some airports but overall disruption was minimal. A lack of unity among unions also dented protests against Macron s reforms, with many voters saying they believe the changes are vital to restore the health of the French economy. The economy ministry said some 14 percent of state civil servants had been on strike and just 9.5 percent in local administration. Macron was careful to consult with unions ahead of the publication of his reform bill but he also offered small concessions. The most moderate union, the CFDT, which now has the largest membership, bought into Macron s proposals. Jean-Claude Mailly, the leader of France s third-largest union, Force Ouvriere, told activists last month he had fought with the government behind closed doors for three months. But his union has also effectively accepted Macron s reforms. Only the Communist Party-rooted CGT spearheaded street demonstrations against the loosening of employment laws. When consultations with unions on changes to unemployment benefits and job training start on Thursday, the government will try the same approach, being firm on basic issues while offering some concessions. Sirot and others said the strategy could work, but they also warned that with Macron planning to press ahead over the next year with even more contentious legislation, he may have won an early battle but not yet the war. There is a degree of resignation, people wonder if (taking part in rallies) is worth it, if they will be listened to, said Luc Berille, the head of Unsa, one of the public sector s main unions. People don t necessarily walk off the job or protest, but there is an accumulation of resentment nonetheless, and that s good for no one. For the current climate to prevail, the government needs to maintain contacts with unions, said Jean Grosset, who heads research on industrial relations at the Jean Jaures think-tank. The key is the sense of injustice, said Grosset, a former union leader, cautioning that if the government failed to tackle this sentiment, bigger protests could be triggered.
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One of Trump s minions just embarrassed herself on CNN and everyone laughed at her.During a discussion on Friday night, Trump supporter Gina Loudon had the gall to repeatedly claim that the Republican nominee is not a sexist or a racist and even denied much of the factual evidence presented by the other panelists as proof that she is wrong. Words matter, Symone Sanders told Loudon. Donald Trump is running for president of the United States, okay? So, his words are extremely important because as president, your words I mean we can talk about the fact he s discriminated against African-Americans, Latinos in this country, Muslims Loudon cut her off by demanding to know when Donald Trump ever discriminated against these groups of people even though there is video tape of Trump calling Mexicans rapists and calling for banning Muslims from entering the country just because of their religion.Bakari Sellers chimed in by citing Trump s discrimination against black people on housing applications. Trump even had to settle the lawsuit because he knew he would lose. Trump also called for the death penalty for the Central Park Five even though they were later found innocent. Gina was asking one simple questions about actions, Sellers began. And Donald Trump s actions, and when has he discriminated so I decided we can recite a few of his actions. We can go to his housing discrimination lawsuits, in which he had to settle not one, but two, because he literally marked C on applications for colored. We can go to the Central Park Five in which he took ads out for these five people But once again, Loudon denied that Trump ever did these things.LOUDON: Donald Trump had nothing do with that! LEMON: Wait, wait wait. You said Donald Trump had nothing to do with taking out ads on the Central Park Five? LOUDON: Donald Trump himself. It was not Donald Trump himself. Loudon also denied that Trump mocked a disabled New York Times reporter despite the fact that there is video of him doing it, which drew laughter from the panelists, Don Lemon, and even from people in the studio off camera. Stop. Stop it y alls, Lemon said in an effort to settle everyone down. People in the studio are even laughing. But Lemon had a hard time doing so because Loudon just droned on about how Donald Trump is a saint and how Hillary Clinton is guilty of everything. Lemon just smiled and rested his head on his hand.Here s the video via VidMe.Trump s supporters are so desperate that they are denying facts and evidence at every turn. They are trying to fool America into thinking that Trump has a clean slate. This is what we can expect from now until the election on November 8th.Featured Image: Screenshot
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ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Britain’s Prince Harry and U.S. first lady Michelle Obama mixed with headline acts from music and film to launch the second edition of the Invictus Games for wounded military personnel on Sunday. British singers James Blunt and Laura Wright performed at the two-hour ceremony before Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman led the crowd at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Champion Stadium in reciting the Invictus Games pledge. Former U.S. President George W Bush, the honorary chairman of this year’s Games, also spoke on stage to the near 500 athletes from 14 different countries who will compete over four days from Monday in 11 Paralympic sports. Harry, who started the Games two years ago in London, paid tribute to the courage of the athletes, who paraded through an interactive 3-D cube decorated in their country’s colors to warm applause. “When we give a standing ovation to the competitor with the missing limbs, let’s also cheer our hearts out for the man who overcame anxiety so severe he couldn’t leave his house,” the 31-year-old royal told the crowd. “Let’s cheer for the woman who fought through post-traumatic stress.” That spirit was echoed by Obama, who thanked U.S. veterans for their service. “I’m here and honor all of you: our extraordinary service members, our veterans, and of course our military families. You all are amazing. Truly amazing,” she said.
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Donald Trump is a petty thin-skinned wannabe dictator who loves revenge. And this is proof.As we all know, the Republican nominee is getting hammered by sexual assault accusations and the fact that he bragged about groping and kissing women against their will.We also know that Trump retaliates over the smallest slights or perceived slights and has no problem insulting women.Well, during a Miss Universe appearance in Australia back in 2011, Trump went on stage and promptly announced to the audience that he intended to get revenge on someone because they didn t introduce him because of a simple miscommunication. Get even with people, Trump said. If they screw you, screw them back 10 times as hard. I really believe that. Then he called out the name of his victim, who also happened to be the 2004 Miss Universe winner from Australia, and demanded she come on stage and stand beside him so he could make an example of her in front of everyone. I ll give you an example: Jennifer Hawkins. Where s Jennifer? Where s she sitting? Get over here, Jennifer. First of all, how beautiful is Jennifer? This is about getting even. I was so angry at her yesterday. Seriously, as I said, I thought that she dissed me. I thought that my Jennifer I m going around saying she s my favorite Miss Universe, but I think I like the new one better, Jennifer. So I go around saying she s the greatest then when I came here, there was no Jennifer Hawkins to introduce me. Hawkins tried to defend herself by explaining that there was a miscommunication, but Trump disregarded what she had to say and proceeded to viciously humiliate her in front of her countrymen and women. I was actually going to get up and tell you that Jennifer is a beautiful girl on the outside, but she s not very bright. That wouldn t have been true, but I would have said it anyway. Because I said, You know what, it would be great. I haven t seen Jennifer in a couple of years. She s so great and she did so well, and she s a big star here, and I helped her make it I own the Miss Universe pageant. And I heard that she wouldn t introduce me. And then to add insult to injury, Trump tried to crack a sex joke and then attempted to kiss Hawkins even though she clearly was not interested in having Trump s lips anywhere near her.Here s the video via Huffington Post.Donald Trump is a creep and a pervert who thinks revenge is the answer to any little insult or slight, real or imagined. He does not have the temperament to be president and the thing we need is a revenge-obsessed egomaniac in control of America s nuclear arsenal and military forces.Featured Image: Kena Betancur/Getty Images
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(Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Ohio violated voters’ rights in 2014 by cutting the number of days in which people were allowed to cast early ballots to 28 from 35. Judge Michael Watson of U.S. District Court in Columbus ordered Ohio to reinstate the 35-day period and also to grant residents a week-long opportunity to register and cast a ballot at the same time - a period known as “Golden Week.” If the ruling stands, voters in Ohio will be able to vote a full 35 days before the general election on Nov. 8. Watson said the earlier changes violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and were unconstitutional. Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature changed the system two years ago. The move was challenged by the state’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union. The two groups argued that the limited opportunities for early voting directly affected minorities. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, said in a statement on Tuesday: “It is disappointing that a federal judge would again change the election rules after the current laws were upheld in the same federal district court by a settlement agreement we reached with the NAACP and the ACLU.” Husted said in a statement. The settlement between Husted and the organizations allowed residents to vote on multiple Sundays leading up to a presidential election and gave access to additional evening voting hours, according to ACLU documents. Husted said he plans to consult the leaders of the state Senate and state House of Representatives before deciding how to proceed.
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Report: Friend Has Been Going By Middle Name This Whole Fucking Time CALABASAS, CA—Astounded that it had never come up at any point in the six years they had known each other, local woman Lucy Reed, 25, reported Tuesday that her friend Nicole Silberthau had apparently been going by her middle name this whole fucking time. Teary-Eyed Tim Kaine Asks Clinton If His Hair Will Grow Back In Time For Election Day NEW YORK—His lower lip quivering while showing his running mate the uneven patches on his head where he attempted to give himself a trim, a teary-eyed Tim Kaine reportedly asked Hillary Clinton this morning if his hair would grow back in time for Election Day.
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(Reuters) - Hurricane Maria has devastated the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, another blow to its already precarious economic situation. Puerto Rico s government owes $72 billion to bondholders, and an additional $50 billion in pension obligations to teachers and almost all other government employees. In May, it filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. The following are responses from multinational companies on how they are dealing with the aftermath of Maria: WAL-MART STORES INC Phillip Keene, Wal-Mart s director of corporate communications, said, Like many businesses, we are working to assess any damage to our facilities as we are safely able to access them and working to connect with our associates to assess what their needs are so we can support as appropriate. We are planning to open facilities very thoughtfully, starting with limited hours at our Sam s Club near San Juan, perhaps as soon as Sunday. One of our Amigo stores has already reopened under limited hours on the south side of San Juan as of this morning. Walmart operates 48 retail facilities, a distribution center and a satellite headquarters in Puerto Rico, supported by more than 14,700 associates across the Island. At this time, we are trying to best understand the impacts of Hurricane Maria to Puerto Rico, but it s been a slow process due to widespread power outages and communication issues. We have activated the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Walmart Home Office in Bentonville, Arkansas, to support our associates in Puerto Rico. The EOC is Walmart s centralized platform for crisis coordination. In the EOC, we work directly with logistics, store operations and other teams within the business to ensure we re aligned on our support plans. We have been in contact with leaders on the Island and continue to be in regular contact with FEMA and the American Red Cross. Our first priority is, and continues to be, the safety of our associates - taking care of them and their families. We are working rapidly to account for our associates, through store and HR leadership as well as social media, local radio and other channels. These efforts will continue. Although our normal assessment process has been impeded a bit by road conditions and flooding, we are currently working to identify the status of our facilities on the Island. Our Merchandising, Replenishment, Supply Chain and Logistics teams are working to ensure we have critical supplies and product headed to the island via shipping vessels that are slated to depart as soon as Friday (Sept. 22). This is in addition to the shipment of water that was sent toward the island earlier this week, which is currently staged at sea awaiting clearance to safely enter port. We will continue to assess the right flow and mix of merchandise and supplies to send to Puerto Rico in the coming days and weeks. Tammy Hull, communications manager at Eli Lilly, said: Lilly has two manufacturing sites in Puerto Rico as well as an affiliate office and sales team. Safety of our employees is our primary concern. The small team of employees who stayed onsite during the storm are safe. We are still accounting for all employees, which is a slow process due to power and communications loss on the island. We are currently assessing our facilities to determine if any damage occurred. Lilly follows emergency procedures that enable us to maintain adequate inventory at our manufacturing sites around the world to ensure a reliable supply of medicine for patients. Kristen Davis, senior manager of corporate communications at Amgen, said: Our first priority is the safety of our colleagues and their families. The vast majority of staff at our Amgen Manufacturing Limited (AML) site in Juncos were sent home prior to Maria making landfall, with only a limited number of colleagues remaining on site to monitor operations. At the moment, we are still working to determine the safety of our people and are hopeful that all will be well. At the same time, we are executing on a comprehensive and well-rehearsed business continuity plan for the site itself. Based on what we know at the moment, we are confident there will be no product supply disruptions for patients around the world. Of course, we will work diligently to ensure drug supply for patients in Puerto Rico and to return our operations in Puerto Rico to normal as quickly as possible. Michele Meixell, head of external communications and affairs at AstraZeneca, said: Given the early nature of the disaster, we are still in the process of gathering more information, but I can tell you what we know so far. Our Puerto Rico employee base consists of approximately 250 colleagues. This represents both field-based employees as well as those working in our manufacturing facility located in Canovanas. Right now our number one priority remains the safety and health of our employees and their families. At this point, it s still early to understand the full impact to our site, but we have started the process to assess our facility. The site does have backup power capabilities and we have a storm crew in limited operation right now until employees are able to safely return to work. In advance of the storm, the facility took appropriate precautions and we have business continuity plans in place to ensure our medicines continue in production. We do not anticipate interruption in supply at this time. I also want to point out that while our Puerto Rico site is of critical importance to our organization, we have manufacturing facilities all over the globe producing medicines, so in terms of overall business impact, this is important to clarify. Regarding the safety of our employees, all non-essential employees had been sent home prior to the storm earlier this week. This is a critical time for our employees to be safe and with their families and we will stay in touch with them in various ways that work best for them in this time of need. We stand behind those impacted by Hurricane Maria and AstraZeneca is committed to helping the people and employees affected by all of these recent natural disasters. We will continue to assess the needs of both our employees and those impacted by the storm and once we have more clarity on their needs, provide support and aid however we can. Pfizer spokeswoman Joan Campion said, We re continuing to assess the situation in Puerto Rico.
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(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the .) Good evening. Here’s the latest. 1. Donald Trump’s plans for a smooth transition to the presidency are in disarray after the abrupt departures of two top aides handling national security and foreign policy matters. Rudolph Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, is a top contender for secretary of state. House Republicans renominated Speaker Paul Ryan as their leader, quieting rumors of an initial revolt. ____ 2. The election has split American society. Writers and photographers for our magazine fanned out across the U. S. and came back with a portrait of a country at odds with itself. Families are contemplating uncomfortable holidays with relatives on the opposite side of the political divide — or even canceling. “I feel like I’ve been living with a lot of people wearing masks, who have been hiding their true selves,” one woman said. ___ 3. Mr. Trump has pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But Medicaid may not shrink all that much. Influential figures in his administration might be willing to establish new conditions for access, but not wholesale cutbacks, our health reporter writes. Above, a free clinic at an arena in Seattle last month. ___ 4. Traffic deaths have been steadily declining over the last four decades. But they spiked last year, and this year is on track to be even worse. Technologies that emerged from the effort to combat distracted driving have apparently added to the problem, adding to what one expert called “cognitive workload. ” ___ 5. Russia began a new air offensive in Syria, just a day after President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to bolster cooperation. For the first time in Russia’s naval history, jets taking off from its aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, took part in combat. ____ 6. Publicly, the U. S. has kept its distance from the war in Yemen. But its alliance with Saudi Arabia has left American fingerprints on the air campaign against rebels. The U. S. sells weapons to Saudi Arabia, refuels its planes and trains its pilots. Graffiti on walls across the capital reads, “America is killing the Yemeni people. ” __ 7. Orchestras are basically functioning as charities. Most rely more on donations than ticket sales, a new report says. Many are building educational and cultural programs that appeal to donors. They also feel increasing pressure to curb costs, which can lead to labor disputes like the strike in Pittsburgh, above. ____ 8. Can fruit and vegetables grown without dirt in a greenhouse be organic? That question is roiling the organic farming world ahead of this week’s meeting of the National Organic Standards Board, which advises the federal government. Some farmers argue that organic production is about caring for the soil, which produces broad environmental benefits. Hydroponic growers say their methods can make organic farming even more sustainable. ____ 9. After spending several years rushing to open their doors on Thanksgiving, retailers have been hit with a dose of reality: It may not be worth it. For many stores, it’s just too much of a headache, with online shopping draining customers and the potential for negative publicity for making employees work on a national holiday. ____ 10. Finally, cornbread dressing, ubiquitous in homes across the South on Thanksgiving in place of stuffing, is not just a side dish. Our food writer tried to learn how to make it, and discovered that it’s “a litmus test on class, race, regional loyalties and grandmothers. ” Here’s the recipe she settled on, and recipes for other great Thanksgiving dishes. ____ Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help. Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p. m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a. m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a. m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s last night’s briefing. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes. com.
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Dennis Ross is a prior Obama and Clinton crony goes on to speak without any questioning from Shawn and then at the end Shawn speaks of Ross and his decades of experience PROPAGANDA!!!
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq s Kurdish leadership rejected on Sunday a demand by the Iraqi government that it cancels the outcome of an independence referendum as a precondition for talks to resolve the dispute. Kurdish leaders who met to discuss the crisis in the town of Dokan renewed their offer to resolve peacefully the crisis with Baghdad. The Kurdish parties are ready for talks between Erbil and Baghdad, they said in a statement, referring respectively to the seat of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq and the federal capital of Iraq. The talks between Erbil and Baghdad should be under the supervision of international parties, the statement added. Among those at the meeting were KRG President Masoud Barzani, Iraqi President Fuad Masum a Kurd who holds a largely ceremonial position in the federal state and Hero Talabani, widow of Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish leader who died earlier this month. They rejected what they described as military threats from Iraqi forces against Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and pledged to defend Kurdish-held territory in case of an attack. The KRG and the Shi ite-led central government in Baghdad have been at loggerheads since the Sept. 25 vote and its loud call for Kurdish independence. Tension between two parties has flared around the multi-ethnic oil city of Kirkuk, which Peshmerga forces took in 2014 when Iraqi security forces collapsed in the face of an Islamic State onslaught. The Peshmerga deployment prevented Kirkuk s oilfields from falling into jihadist hands.
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Even the most hardened Cruz supporters will be switching their votes when they hear about all of the sick liberals who are willing to leave America if Trump gets elected. Think of it as a public service Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would be doing a great service to the United States if celebrities, including Lena Dunham and Whoopi Goldberg, follow through with threats to move to Canada if he is elected president, and joked that he would campaign even harder as a result.On Monday, Dunham told attendees at an event in New York that she would 100 percent move to Canada if Trump were elected president, and in fact already had a beautiful and appealing area of Vancouver in mind. Other celebrities including Miley Cyrus, Samuel L. Jackson and Raven-Symon have similarly vowed to move to Canada in the event Trump wins. Well, she s a B-actor. She has no mojo, Trump said of Dunham during a Tuesday interview with Fox and Friends. I heard Whoopi Goldberg said that too. That would be a great, great thing for our country. https://youtu.be/0gtYrkdYQ88When Fox and Friends host Steve Doocy mentioned that Rosie O Donnell had vowed to move to Canada if he were elected, Trump chuckled. We ll get rid of Rosie? I love it, he said. Now I have to get elected, because I ll be doing a great service to our country. Now it s much more important. In fact, I ll immediately get off this call and start campaigning right now. Other celebrities who have threatened to move to Canada if Trump is elected include George Lopez, Eddie Griffin, Cher, and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Via: Breitbart NewsWatch comments from celebrities about leaving US if Trump is our next President here:
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The Bundy militia has now been making a nuisance of itself and terrorizing Harney County, Oregon with its armed occupation of Malheur Wildlife Refuge for two weeks now. It s been frustrating to sane people nationwide, but especially to the area s residents, whose lives have been disrupted by this nonsense. Unfortunately, though, it has been confirmed that these people have no intention of going anywhere. In fact, one of the militants, LaVoy Finicum, says they have a right to be there, even if the local residents want them to leave.Finicum said to the press that he knows that the people who actually live in the area want the militia to get out of dodge, and a third says we like what you re doing but not liking your method, appreciate it but we want you to go, and about a third saying don t go, stay. However, the United States is a republic, so they aren t going anywhere. He went on to say: Let s talk about a republic. It s the right of an individual that we re looking at, not the right of the collective. You know if there is just one rancher that is saying please help me, please don t go, what about him? What about the Hammonds? What about that family that is in prison? Let them be released, he said. It is about the one family right now. Nevermind the fact that the Hammonds want absolutely nothing to do with this band of nutcases, and their attorney has said that these idiots do not speak for them. That matters not to these yahoos, though. This isn t about the Hammonds, this is about men wanting to play army and who are committing treason while fulfilling that fantasy. Arrest them all, now.Watch the video of Finicum s remarks below:Featured image via video screen capture
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SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea s President Moon Jae-in said on Sunday the government will continue to phase out nuclear-generated electricity, following a public opinion survey that dealt a blow to his plans to do so. We will completely stop all plans for the construction of new nuclear reactors like the government previously stated, Moon said in a statement distributed to reporters by his office. The government will also step up usage of natural gas and renewables in order to maintain its stance of phasing out nuclear-generated power. Moon s statement came after a public opinion survey on Friday found a majority of almost 60 percent in favor of resuming the stalled construction of two reactors. The president asked his supporters on Sunday to respect the outcome of the survey, which he called a wise and intelligent response. Completing the two reactors could mean a reversal of a strategy to slowly reduce nuclear energy s share of the power mix, and also significantly eat into the liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand of the world s second-largest consumer of the fuel. With the two reactors set to be completed in October 2021 and October 2022, according to state-run nuclear operator Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Moon said safety standards for nuclear plants would be ramped up. Moon also reiterated his plan to shut down the Wolsong No. 1 nuclear reactor, the nation s second-oldest, once the government confirms stability in energy supplies. The 697-megawatt reactor in southeastern South Korea was taken offline in 2012 after reaching its 30-year lifespan, but the regulator approved a restart a few years ago until 2022. South Korea has 24 nuclear reactors, supplying a third of its electricity.
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License DMCA My guest today is Maya Schenwar, Truthout's editor-in-chief, author of Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn't Work and How We Can Do Better , and co-editor of Who Do You Serve, Who Do you Protect? Police Violence and Resistance in the United States . Joan Brunwasser: Welcome back to OpEdNews, Maya. We last spoke back in January, 2015. Now, I'd like to discuss your recent piece: Death Penalty for Heroin Dealers? More Proof the Drug War Is Not Over . Who thought the drug war was over in the first place and why? - Advertisement - Maya Schenwar: There has been a shift in mainstream politics toward condemning the drug war, and for good reason. It has done nothing to stem drug misuse, and meanwhile it has resulted in the criminalization and incarceration of millions of people, overwhelmingly Black and Brown people. With countless studies demonstrating its "failure" (I put this in quotes because I don't think the drug war was actually devised to help people in the first place), politicians who defend it end up looking pretty bad. So the current line is to say it's in the past, and that we have a new approach to drugs going forward. The Obama administration, many state governments, and even conservative politicians (including the "Right on Crime" crowd) have said that we need to leave behind the old war on drugs. In February, Eric Holder said the drug war is "over," and Obama increasingly talks about treating drug-related issues as "public health problems" instead of criminal problems. JB: How does that change anything: the disproportionate numbers of minority members locked up for possession, more single moms incarcerated for the same, families split up and minors left with no parent at home? Are they, then, opening the prison gates and saying, "We were wrong. This was all a big mistake; it didn't work and we diverted and wasted billions of dollars that could have been used to good purpose. And we ruined your lives for nothing. Oops. Sorry."? MS: No, no one is opening the prison gates, unfortunately! There are some limited steps being taken toward scaling back drug-war-related incarceration. For example, Obama has issued hundreds of commutations to people serving super-long drug sentences. Some states have taken steps to reduce some very low-level drug offenses to misdemeanors instead of felonies, which means people are a lot less likely to be incarcerated for them. (California's Proposition 47 is an example of this, although the emphasis on "low-level offenses" has actually entrenched the idea that people should be severely punished for "higher-level offenses.) - Advertisement - Obviously, in a number of states, marijuana is being decriminalized, and some are legalizing it. However, that doesn't mean there are no longer marijuana arrests -- in fact, an ACLU study released recently showed there were more marijuana possession arrests last year than arrests for all violent crimes. The study also showed that Black people are still disproportionately arrested in far greater numbers than white people, despite using marijuana at about the same rate as white people. JB: How do we understand this, Maya? Beyond being convinced that the whole penal system is seriously screwed up, what's the point of increased marijuana arrests? Is this a last gasp effort or at least partly to fill up jail cells and local or private prison coffers? MS: There wasn't an increase in marijuana arrests overall last year; there was a decrease. But obviously it was a small decrease, given that there was a larger number of possession arrests than all violent crime arrests. I don't think it's about filling private prison coffers. Ultimately, prisons are expensive for states, and I don't actually see money as a primary motivator to incarcerate people. Until we challenge criminality itself -- and challenge the white supremacy that underlies the US's version of criminality -- we won't be done with large-scale incarceration. We have to understand incarceration by looking at how people are being labeled as disposable and as "dangerous," and how those things are racialized. Whether it's marijuana possession or something else, there will always be a convenient "crime" with which to charge Black and Brown people unless white supremacy itself is confronted. We also have to think about ableism, transmisogyny, patriarchy, economic injustice, capitalism -- really confronting the structures that make it possible for our society to lock millions of people in cages. If we look at the drug war through this lens, we understand that's it's not some stand-alone entity; it's one tool deployed by a larger power structure that continually targets marginalized people in order to keep itself going. JB: Good point. Does the fact that the penal dysfunction is part of a larger overarching dysfunction make it easier or harder to improve it? And what's ableism? I don't know that I'm familiar with that term. MS: I think the fact that it's part of an overarching structural problem means that it can't really been improved, per se -- it really has to be uprooted. I wouldn't say that can happen extremely easily; it's more a goal to move toward while making incremental changes. Ableism is the structural oppression against and devaluation of people with disabilities. One of the ways it plays out in relation to prison is the extremely high level of incarceration of people with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities. 'Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn't Work and How We Can Do Better' by Maya Schenwar(image by Berrett-Koehler Publishers) License DMCA JB: Quite true. I believe much of that shift occurred when President Reagan "reallocated" resources, closing many state mental hospitals and dumping the patients onto the streets and the unprepared public. And we've been paying the price, one way or another, ever since. What haven't we talked about yet? MS: There's of course much more to talk about, but we have to end things somewhere, right? One thing I'd caution people against is assuming that the automatic alternative to incarceration for people convicted of drug offenses should be drug treatment. First of all, most people arrested for drug offenses aren't dependent on drugs (most people who use drugs are not dependent on them); there are safe ways to use drugs and we have to challenge laws that stigmatize their use.
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Megyn Kelly has come under fire for a planned Father’s Day interview with InfoWars founder Alex Jones on her new Sunday night NBC News program, with social media users calling for a boycott of the program’s advertisers and urging others to tune out the show when it airs later this month. [Kelly shared a preview clip of the interview with Jones on her Twitter account Sunday. In the clip, Jones defends against being called “the most paranoid man in the world,” calls the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U. S. an “inside job,” and attempts to deflect criticism for his assertion that the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax. Next Sunday, I sit down with conservative radio host @RealAlexJones to discuss controversies and conspiracies #SundayNight June 18 on NBC pic. twitter. — Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) June 11, 2017, In response to the preview, several Twitter users identifying themselves as family members of the 27 victims of the horrific attack tweeted directly to the Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly host to express their outrage that the anchor and NBC would give Jones a platform to discuss his views. Cristina Hassinger — daughter of Sandy Hook Elementary principal Dawn Hoschsprung, who was killed in the attack — and Nelba Marquez Greene, who reportedly lost a daughter in the attack, both sent messages to Kelly denouncing the interview. “Shame on you,” Hassinger wrote. This piece of actual garbage encourages people to call my mom’s death a hoax and harass other Sandy Hook families. Shame on you @megynkelly. https: . — cristina hassinger (@chass63) June 12, 2017, Here you go @megynkelly — her name is Ana Grace . Say her stare at this tell me it’s worth it. @nbc #SandyHook pic. twitter. — Nelba (@Nelba_MG) June 12, 2017, Hey @megynkelly — this is what I’m talking about. Is this what you’re shining a light on? #ShameOnMegynKelly https: . — Nelba (@Nelba_MG) June 12, 2017, As the backlash grew on social media Sunday, Kelly responded to a user who said that Jones’ appearance on her show would help “legitimize” the radio host and commentator. Kelly replied that Jones’ previous interactions with President Donald Trump were newsworthy and that her job was to “shine a light” on the media figure. But that explanation was not satisfactory to a number of other social media users, who called for a boycott campaign against NBC and Kelly’s new show. #GrabYourWallet Take down Alex Jones and anyone who supports him. @nbc https: . — Anita was here (@VennMultiverse) June 12, 2017, When I was growing up, NBC News was my favorite TV news show. If this vile interview airs, I’ll NEVER watch it again. https: . — Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) June 12, 2017, This is the mother of a child murdered at Sandy Hook — a tragedy Alex Jones says never happened. How could you @megynkelly? #shameonNBC https: . — Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) June 12, 2017, Boycott @NBC @megynkelly for the @RealAlexJones interview. Jones is an incendiary conspiracy theorist who makes up news to fit his agenda, — D. Fitz Allgood 🌞🚴 (@FitzAllgoodlife) June 12, 2017, Very disappointed in @nbc giving airtime to hideous Alex Jones. Won’t watch, and won’t watch @megynkelly ever for providing him a platform. https: . — Heather Whaley (@HeatherWhaley) June 12, 2017, @NBCNews Please, for the love of goodness decency, do not give Alex Jones a platform on Sun. It’s disrespectful to Newtown victims. — Nathaniel (@Hoosier2012) June 12, 2017, A representative for NBC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly premiered earlier this month with a interview with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Putin told Kelly that American media had created a “sensation out of nothing” with allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 U. S. presidential race. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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If Donald Trump really wants an apology from ESPN, he ll need to issue a significant public apology to President Obama first.At least that s what CNN host Don Lemon told TMZ when he was encountered by a crew at an airport this week.Last week, ESPN host Jemele Hill called Trump a white supremacist on Twitter in response to his remarks blaming both sides for the violence at Charlottesville and his comment that white supremacists are fine people. Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists, Hill wrote.And it s true. Trump has been very reluctant to criticize white supremacists and does so very weakly when he finally does. And even then he soon reverses himself.Well, it didn t take long for Trump s team of snowflakes to cry foul. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders abused her position by calling for ESPN to fire Hill.Then Trump attacked ESPN and demanded an apology on Twitter.ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017So far, Trump has not received an apology from ESPN or Hill. Instead, Hill expressed regret that her personal remarks on her personal Twitter account caused grief for her employers. She stood by her remarks about Trump.And according to Don Lemon, if Trump really wants an apology he should start by apologizing to President Obama for promoting birtherism. I think when the president worked for NBC at The Apprentice, and he said that Barack Obama was not born here, and he called Barack Obama a racist. If he apologizes for that, then maybe ESPN should apologize. Here s the video via YouTube.Frankly, Trump doesn t deserve an apology at all. But he definitely owes President Obama several apologies. Trump has repeatedly smeared Obama over the years, especially since taking office even though it s considered seriously bad taste to bash your predecessor in the way Trump has been doing.But Trump worst offense committed against Obama is the perpetuation of the racist birther claims that he repeatedly pushed, especially on Fox News.Trump should have to apologize for that, but he won t because he thinks he s the only one who is ever owed an apology. Trump plays the victim card all the time, but you never heard President Obama whine like Trump does because Obama has true class. Obama rose above the abuse while Trump throws temper tantrums like a petulant child over the smallest of slights.The difference between Hill and Trump is Hill called it like it is while Trump pushed damnable lies that had already been repeatedly debunked.He should be ashamed of himself.Featured Image: Zach Gibson Pool/Getty Images
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Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Security Question: What is 14 + 5 ? Please leave these two fields as-is: IMPORTANT! To be able to proceed, you need to solve the following simple math (so we know that you are a human) :-) Doom and Bloom
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9-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina girl Zianna Oliphant is already tired in her very short life of seeing black men and women die at the hands of police officers.Oliphant spoke about her fears at a meeting of the Charlotte City Council and it was heartbreaking.[ad3media campaign= 941 ]Zianna and her brother, Marquis, both spoke at a City Council meeting in which members of the city s black community called for changes after police fatally shot an African-American man, Keith Lamont Scott, last week.Police say Scott was armed. The shooting death and questions over the use of deadly police force against people of color sparked protests that roiled the city. We are black people and we shouldn t have to feel like this. We shouldn t have to protest because y all are treating us wrong, the girl said Monday. We do this because we need to and have rights. In a later interview with NBC, Oliphant said the emotion of the issue hit her as she spoke, and that s why she began crying.Her mother, Precious Oliphant, pointed out that Zianna and Marquis are involved in a police youth league and have frequently been around police officers in a positive fashion. But they are still aware of the problems of discrimination and racism at a very young age because as their mother she has been frequently pulled over for police for what she believes are trivial issues, like the way she wore her hair.Zianna says she plans to become a doctor when she grows up, and speaking up as she did, she is obviously well on her way to being a community leader. Others around her and in positions of leadership and authority in her community could do far worse than to follow her example, as she is clearly wise beyond her actual years.Featured image via screen capture
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WFB- The former Democratic presidential candidate appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, where he discussed the 2016 election and Clinton s new book What Happened, which delves into her devastating defeat at the hands of Trump.Colbert questioned Sanders about Clinton s claim that he caused lasting damage to her campaign during the primaries through his attacks against her.Next, Sanders hit Hillary right between the eyes when he reminded her how she lost to the candidate that the left never imagined could beat her Look, Secretary Clinton ran against the most unpopular candidate in the history of this country, and she lost, Sanders said. And she was upset about it. Now, I understand that. Our job now is really not to go backwards, it is to go forwards, Sanders said. And I think it s a little bit silly to be keeping talking about 2016. We got too many problems.
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Michigan Governor Rick Snyder stood before the state legislature and declared that the buck stops with him. He said that the people of Flint deserve the truth and that they will get it. Hew said he takes full responsibility and that the government had failed the people.Then he refused to resign, denying the people the basic satisfaction of seeing their grossly incompetent leader step down.The hope for some kind of satisfaction isn t completely gone, however, as the lawyers in a class action suit filed for the people of Flint obtained subpoenas requiring the governor, his staffers, city managers and the Department of Environmental Quality to turn over all documents, records and emails pertaining the crisis in Flint.Lawyers are looking for anything dating back to 2011 referring to three specific items: The Flint River tapped for drinking water, the quality of the water in the river or the KWA pipeline, the main transfer route at the root of the problem.The bad news didn t stop there for Governor Snyder. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced that it was assigning the former head of the FBI s Detroit field office to lead a criminal investigation. What the citizens of Flint want, desire and deserve is what laws may have been broken, said Schuette.The controversy surrounding Flint has been treated by Republicans like a simple oops moment. Jeb Bush has praised the governor for his handling of the situation that has already taken at least ten lives from Legionnaire s disease while calling for the head of Hillary Clinton on a pike over Benghazi. The entire situation has highlighted just how little republicans tend to think of the people when making decisions that could save a few dollars or earn a few more.Hopefully, Governor Snyder will have no choice when the facts are presented but to step down. The people of Flint deserve no less.Feature Image via screen capture
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0 comments In many ways, this SCANDALOUS investigation is more DISTURBING than the others… It is hard to imagine an investigation more scandalous than the one presented my sexting wild man Anthony Weiner and his beautiful, estranged wife, Huma Abedin. Depending on what is found on the 650,000 emails on Weiner and Abedin’s laptop, the infamous couple could take down one of the most powerful women on the planet, Hillary Clinton. Something tells me that there is plenty of scandal to go around, however. It is now being reported that the FBI’s Miami office is investigating the Clinton Foundation for their “work” in Haiti. . @rpollockDC reports that FBI’s Miami office is conducting Clinton Fnd probe concerning Haiti work. https://t.co/w8iPeQ69nr @dailycaller
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) October 31, 2016
It is no surprise that the FBI is interested in the Clinton’s dealings in Haiti.
Since January of 2015, when a group of Haitians surrounded the Clinton Foundation’s offices in New York, carrying signs that said, “Clinton, where’s the money?”
Dhoud Andre, of the Commission Against Dictatorship, has said, “We are telling the world of the crimes that Bill and Hillary Clinton are responsible for in Haiti.”
Recent emails, leaked from the State Department, indicated that contractors seeking to provide earthquake relief to devastated Haitians were heavily vetted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s team. The criteria? Contractors needed to be “FOB’s,” or “Friends of Bill.” These FOB’s were donors to the Clinton Foundation. Reportedly, if a contract company was not a donor, they were referred elsewhere, while donating contractors were given funds to work in Haiti.
Almost $4 billion was sent to Haiti for relief, and it has been noted by some Haitians that little of this money actually made it to those who need it.
Haitians also have noted that Bill Clinton was the designated UN Representative for aid to Haiti while Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State.
The Clintons were the two most powerful people controlling the funds meant to help Haitians.
Contracts went to friends of the Clintons, and, reportedly, homes were not built, schools were not built, technology was not installed, and infrastructure was not significantly improved.
Haiti did, however, gain a few million dollar hotels.
Not exactly what the poor were hoping for.
Take a look at this video, entitled “How the Clinton Foundation Got Rich Off Poor Haitians.”
The details are almost too numerous to list. For more information, visit the National Review.
One thing is certain, if the FBI continues at this pace, the details are forthcoming, and they are not likely to be pretty.
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BELFAST (Reuters) - A senior member of Northern Ireland s Democratic Unionist Party on Wednesday blamed rivals Sinn Fein for the collapse of talks on forming a power-sharing government and suggested the DUP would not compromise on the key issue of the Irish language. In the first public statement from the DUP on the collapse of talks, member of parliament Gregory Campbell accused Sinn Fein of holding back government with a narrow political agenda . Campbell suggested that the DUP would not accept Sinn Fein demands for additional rights and funding for Irish language speakers, the key sticking point in talks in recent weeks, saying it already receives ample public funding. We cannot and will not be party to an agreement that elevates the Irish language not only above all others, but above health, education and other vital public services, he said.
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Email
Clinton wins “by a landslide” — in the corruption department. So says columnist, New York Times bestselling author, and admitted Clinton “bagman” Jeff Rovin. Initially presenting his story anonymously in the National Enquirer , Rovin subsequently revealed his identity in a Monday interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Among his striking claims: The Clintons have an “open marriage,” Hillary has had affairs with both men and women, and he paid off reporters to keep the copious Clinton dirt hush-hush. And these allegations are backed up by 24-years' worth of documentation.
Rovin’s appearance on Hannity (video below) adds further weight to his claims, as people often associate the Enquirer with fanciful tales. Yet as Hannity himself pointed out, that paper has at times broken major stories, catching the rest of the media napping. Hannity cited scoops concerning O.J. Simpson, John Edwards’ mistress, Gary Hart, Jesse Jackson’s out-of-wedlock child, Tiger Woods’ marriage woes, and others. In fact, Rovin said that such Enquirer stories are, ironically, “probably better vetted than most of the stories in other media” because they’re “so controversial.”
Of course, the Enquirer 's scoops almost invariably involve salacious matters, and the Clinton story is no exception. Yet most significant are Rovin’s disclosures about media suppression of truth — and efforts to destroy people such as Monica Lewinsky.
Rovin explains that as a Hollywood reporter in the '80s and '90s, his close relationship with the Tinseltown power set and press allowed him to become, as he put it, “‘a fixer’: someone who helps stars keep embarrassing stories out of the press.” Rovin did his job so well that in 1991 he was asked to work for a rising political couple who, together, were an embarrassing-story-disgorging machine: Arkansas governor William Jefferson Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham. As he wrote : I was informed that these stories would involve rumors of Bill Clinton' s many sexual dalliances and an alleged ongoing affair of Hillary Clinton with a male member of her law firm, Vince Foster, as well as a female mover-and-shaker in Hollywood. For a retainer of $4,000 a month — paid by a third party, not the campaign — I was told to keep these stories hush-hush in one of two ways: by trading access to the Clintons for “positive” interviews, or by paying the reporters. The payments were always cash, usually delivered in a movie theater or restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, and came in two denominations: $100 for a heads-up that a bad story was coming; or considerably more to kill the piece.
Rovin’s claims align perfectly with the recent WikiLeaks revelations about direct collusion between the corrupt mainstream media and Clinton campaign; among the examples are a New York Times reporter giving the campaign veto power over quotations, a CNBC reporter advising the campaign, and CNN commentator Donna Brazile forwarding Clinton a debate question prior to a March face-off against Bernie Sanders (yes, Sandernistas, the fix was really in).
Yet bribery wasn’t the only method for getting stories spiked; deception was another. As Rovin told Hannity, reporters “were paid to soften the stories.… What would happen is, if we got wind of a story from the tabloids, chances were pretty good it would end up in one of the mainstream newspapers or magazines. We would then contact one of those people and say, ‘This isn't true, don't run it.’”
And this apparently does ring true to Hannity, who spoke of the evidence he saw, saying to Rovin, “I went through with your editor everything that you had. You do have ledgers; you did have the faxes with the letterhead and the timestamps. The Clintons know you…. They know you fixed things for them.”
And Rovin says this fixing became a full-time job, as the Clintons committed continual sexual indiscretions in what he described as a “polyamorous” and “open” marriage — which matches the “open borders” Hillary said, in an e-mail, that she wanted.
Rovin appears to believe the Clintons’ sexual depravity was so all-consuming that it distracted Bill from the business of running the country. He cites as the worst example of judgment the bachelor party in March 1994 for Clinton’s half-brother, Roger Clinton, who, in quintessential Clinton style, was marrying a bride eight-months-pregnant. Prostitutes were present, and recordings were made — they included Bill Clinton.
None of this will surprise those who know of Bill’s having taken 26 flights on billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s “Lolita Express,” but the recording was a problem: It was offered for sale to the Enquirer , says Rovin. This is when he says he swooped in and negotiated a deal to keep the recording suppressed. (Note: This would be a national-security concern, too. A foreign power that obtained such a recording conceivably could use it to blackmail the president.)
Also in 1994, Rovin “arranged a meeting for Hillary and a woman in an exclusive Beverly Hills hotel,” he said . “I helped her slip out of a back exit for a one-on-one session with the other woman.” The journalist described this encounter as “sordid.”
Rovin also reveals that he was part of a “team effort” to damage Monica Lewinsky; in fact, Rovin later felt so bad about this smear campaign that he apologized to Lewinsky personally. In addition, the journalist “told Hannity he was tasked with distracting the media while Hillary’s crew rummaged through [Vince] Foster’s office … to snatch documents related to the Whitewater scandal,” as WND.com put it .
As to Rovin’s motivations for finally coming forward, he mentioned two significant factors. He told Hannity that when he learned that Enquirer editor Dylan Howard was doing the Clinton story and was naming sources he wanted kept confidential, he agreed to participate under the condition he could protect those sources. Second, he wrote in the Enquirer piece, “I am coming forward now because of the endless attention the alleged indiscretions of Donald Trump have received. Nothing I have heard comes close to the sexual and moral corruption of the Clintons — many of which have [sic] yet to be revealed.”
Having said this, Rovin was dismayed at the campaign emphasis on dirt, saying to Hannity, “The election is too important to focus on this salacious material.” Identifying as a libertarian, the journalist expressed the common idea that politicians’ sexual indiscretions are none of anyone’s business and should be beyond scrutiny. And while many issues are more important — such as Clinton’s internationalist, open-borders dreams; amnesty plans; warmongering stance vis-à-vis Russia; and radical social agenda — that common idea is also a mistaken idea.
Question: Is there any sexual indiscretion a politician could commit that would bring his psychological fitness into question? What if a person habitually engages in bestiality? Would you want such an individual managing your finances or babysitting your child? If not, why not, if “private” sexual behavior has no bearing on whether the person can “do the job”?
If so, however, then would you want such a person’s finger on the nuclear button?
Now, what kind of sexual depravity is not a red flag?
During the Bill Clinton years, “Character doesn’t matter” became a meme used to justify Clinton corruption. But would you want to be pulled over by a cop with bad character or have your car repaired by a mechanic with same? Character is integral to everything we do .
The Bible speaks of “eyes blinded by sin,” “For the eye altering alters all,” wrote poet William Blake. Habitually engaging in wrongdoing and (as man will do) rationalizing it away — which is when we deny reality — causes us to lose touch with reality. Twisting the truth in our own minds twists our minds; conning ourselves corrupts our judgment. The eye altering…
Hillary Clinton is poised to continue the “fundamental change” Barack Obama infamously promised. But do we really want someone in an altered state altering these United States? Please review our Comment Policy before posting a comment
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Dear Mike Tomlin, James Harrison, Ben Roethlisberger and any other Steeler who feels a need to criticize Bronze Star recipient Alejandro Villanueva for honoring the flag that his brothers came home under, you can all go to hell.On Sunday your team had 3 options, stand and support America, sit/kneel and disrespect America or 3 take the coward s way out and abstain, vote present, hide in the tunnel because you were too afraid to be seen as pro-American or Anti-American. What a vile low candy-ass choice you made. I was looking for 100 percent participation, we were gonna be respectful of our football team, Tomlin told reporters.Your team does not come before America.Why should anyone be forced to act in a way that is against their moral code? The poor boys millionaire club could not all agree on whether or not to disrespect America so you hid. We Americans understand. Trust me.Let the kneelers kneel, the sitters sit, the Patriots stand, own your beliefs. Own your side. Everyone with a working knowledge of contract law knows that the players disrespecting America could have been fined in accordance with their contract.Remember Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf? He was fined $30,000 after disrespecting the flag and choosing to sit on his butt during the anthem. Once he was fined he worked out a compromise and stood, he recited Islamic prayers under his breath but he did not disgrace his team by disrespecting the American flag, the anthem, America herself.The administrative branch of the NFL is tax exempt. I hope that exemption is revoked. The entire league is subsidized with billions of taxpayers dollars, for what, so you can spit in the faces of the people who support you? No more.You have backed the wrong horse. Sometimes not choosing a side is choosing through omission.You ve taken something that unites Americans of every color, creed, and religion and managed to divide them through your cowardliness and fear of offending the wrong people. Fine them or fire them this is behavior that is covered in their contracts conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League. Honoring 9/11 is detrimental, wearing pink in your hair to honor breast cancer survivors and casualties is detrimental, twerking is detrimental but dishonoring the American flag is not detrimental to the integrity of the NFL. Hypocrites. You lousy lowlife mamby-pamby, money-grubbing, cowardly, politically correct, assholes can all go to hell.Your decision to hide in the tunnel is disgusting and cowardly. Your decision to criticize Alejandro Villanueva a war veteran, a man who fought for your freedom, a man who saved lives, a man who was willing to lay his life down for you, a bronze heart recipient is beyond words.Mike Tomlin, James Harrison, Ben Roethlisberger and any Steeler who has the audacity to criticize or question Alejandro Villanueva standing for the National Anthem, choosing country over his team, you are what is wrong with America. As a team, you boys get a ball from one of a field to another side of the field and celebrate. As a man, Villanueva rescued wounded soldiers while under enemy fire and you cowardly clowns are hiding in a tunnel because you couldn t decide whether or not to stand or sit for the American flag have the misguided intrepidity to criticize Villanueva s dedication to America?I hope my fellow Americans pray with me for a holy curse on your team, that you not win a single game for the rest of the season. I hope that you lose your tax exempt status, I hope you rethink your disgusting words and actions.May the souls of the faithfully departed brothers and sisters who came home under the American flag haunt your every moment.If you enjoyed Lovely s letter and would like to see more of her blog, please visit her blog by clicking HERE.
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Iraq Leader of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, Masoud Barzani, (R) talks to Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) Ammar Hakim (C) in Zartac Mountain, near Nineveh, October 27, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)
The leader of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has assured that Kurdish Peshmerga forces will not set foot in Mosul during a joint operation with the army and allied fighters aimed at liberating the Daesh-held northern city.
“The Peshmerga will not enter the city of Mosul,” Masoud Barzani said in a news conference with Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) Ammar Hakim, in Zartac Mountain, near the city of Nineveh, on Thursday.
Barzani further said the Kurdish fighters are coordinating their role in the Mosul liberation operation with the Iraqi military, adding that the collaboration will continue.
The Kurdish leader further highlighted unity among different Iraqi political parties, adding that Daesh was no more a threat as most areas are back in control of the Iraqi forces.
Last week, the Popular Mobilization Units, a mainly-Shia military group backing the Iraqi army in the Mosul offensive, also said its forces would not march into Mosul, adding that Iraqi army soldiers and security personnel would enter the embattled city.
Barzani further referred to recent Daesh terror activities in the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk, saying the Takfiri terror group is making desperate attempts to cover up its defeats in the Mosul battle.
“We were able to control the situation quickly and kill the terrorists,” the Kurdish leader said.
Terrorists launched several rounds of attacks in the city of Kirkuk over the weekend as Iraqi officials are focused on the Mosul offensive.
On Friday, at least 100 Daesh elements went on a rampage in Kirkuk to divert an Iraqi and Kurdish military advance on Mosul. The incident left 99 civilians and members of the security forces dead as well as 63 militants, according to Iraqi security officials. Leader of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, Masoud Barzani (2nd L) receives Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) Ammar Hakim (2nd R) in Zartac Mountain, near the city of Nineveh, October 27, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)
For his part, Hakim highlighted the need for avoiding rifts in Iraq and staying focused on the fight against Daesh.
He further stressed that a Turkish base present in Bashiqa near Mosul was not welcome.
“This (Turkish) base, and the forces that came to the base, were present without coordination with the Iraqi government. They are armed forces, and we strongly refuse the participation of any non-Iraqi fighter in this battle,” Hakim said.
Last December, Turkey deployed some 150 soldiers, equipped with heavy weapons and backed by 20 to 25 tanks, to the Bashiqa camp.
Ankara claimed the deployment was part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the fight against Daesh, but Baghdad denounced the unauthorized move as a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.
Recently, Ankara claimed that his country is involved in the Mosul operation, but Baghdad denied such a role.
Last week, the Iraqi army, volunteer Shia and Sunni fighters as well as Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a long-awaited operation to wrest control of Mosul, the last stronghold of Daesh in the Arab country.
Many believe that the recapture of Mosul, which fell to Daesh in 2014, would signal the terror outfit’s total defeat in Iraq.
Iraqi Special Forces commanders said Thursday that the Mosul operation was proceeding as planned and they were now waiting for further gains in the south before resuming their push toward the city.
“The operation has not been stopped and is proceeding as planned,” Special Forces Brigadier General Haider Fadhil said.
In another development on Thursday, the US estimated that up to 900 Daesh terrorists have been killed in the Mosul liberation operation so far.
General Joseph Votel, the head the US military’s Central Command, said the operation was taking a heavy toll on the Takfiris.
There are between 3,500 and 5,000 Daesh elements in Mosul and up to another 2,000 in the broader area, according to US figures.
More Daesh tunnels uncovered
Also on Thursday, Iraqi troops discovered several tunnels used by Daesh terrorists in recently recaptured villages of Bartella and Bazwaia, located between 5 and 7 kilometers east of Mosul.
“When we entered the Khazna Taba neighborhood (in Bartella) and after we liberated it, we found several tunnels,” said Razed Qusai al-Kinani, a member of Iraqi Counterterrorism forces.
One of the tunnels, which is 200 meters long and 10 meters deep, was used by Daesh for meetings and allowed the terror outfit’s ringleaders to move around during the battle, he added.
Elsewhere in the village of Tob Zawa, the Iraqi troops found a tire shop that had been converted into a factory for making roadside bombs and attaching armor to vehicles.
They also discovered another tunnel in the village equipped with fans and lights that ran from beneath a mosque out to a road. Loading ...
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After Bill and Chelsea Clinton both dodged reporters asking if their foundation would return donations from Harvey Weinstein, an announcement came that is pretty amazing.The Clinton Foundation WILL NOT return as much as $250,000 in donations from Harvey Weinstein, saying on Sunday the money had already been spent on the organization s programs and used for charitable purposes.WHAT? THE MONEY HAD ALREADY BEEN SPENT???The foundation s decision comes as politicians and philanthropic groups grapple with whether to return donations they have received from Weinstein, after numerous women stepped forward this month to accuse the movie mogul of sexual assault, harassment and rape.HILLARY LIES AGAIN:The Clinton Foundation faced questions about Weinstein s funding after Hillary Clinton said last week she would re-gift his campaign donations to charity. Weinstein was a major bundler for Clinton, hosting fundraising events with deep-pocketed Hollywood donors.Hillary Clinton tells @FareedZakaria she'll donate Weinstein contribs to charity as part of her usual 10% income donation to charities pic.twitter.com/I0o8M3iMCy Salvador Hernandez (@SalHernandez) October 11, 2017ALREADY SPENT???A spokesperson for the Clinton Foundation told DailyMail.com that the group will not return Weinstein s donations, which totaled between $100,000 and $250,000.WOULDN T YOU LOOOVE TO SEE THEIR BOOKS?The spokesman said the foundation already spent the money on its programs, such as lowering the cost of HIV medication and supporting women and girls in developing countries.The foundation said it supports commitments to combat human trafficking, and runs the No Ceilings Project which aims to advance the full participation of girls and women around the world through data-driven analysis on gender inequality, an in-depth conversation series, innovative partnerships, and CGI commitments. The explanation comes after foundation board member Chelsea Clinton ducked questions about Weinstein s money from a DailyMail.com reporter while attending a Clinton Global Initiative University event at Northeastern University in Boston on Saturday.The former first daughter hustled out a side door after the event, evading a reporter as she rushed to her car surrounded by aides and security.The Clinton Foundation and a spokesperson for Hillary Clinton had previously declined to comment on the Weinstein matter.Organizations have been divided on whether to return money to Weinstein, who gave to numerous political and philanthropic causes over the years.Read more: Daily Mail
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LACONIA, N.H. (Reuters) - Marco Rubio finished third in Monday’s Iowa caucuses, but his Republican White House rivals are attacking him as though he were the victor, and on Wednesday the U.S. senator from Florida peppered his speech with humble caveats that seemed designed to deflect the hits. As the 2016 candidates looked ahead to Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has called Rubio “the boy in the bubble,” suggesting he gives the same speech no matter where he goes. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who is campaigning for former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, said Rubio could not win a general election because of his positions on abortion and immigration. Bush and Ohio Governor John Kasich both said the country needed an experienced commander in chief, in what appeared to be a jab at Rubio, a first-term senator. In the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, Republicans Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, two anti-establishment candidates, had dominated the polls in the state while Rubio lagged well behind. But on Monday, he racked up a surprisingly strong third-place finish, garnering the support of 23 percent of Republican caucus goers, just below Trump’s 24 percent second-place finish. Cruz, a senator from Texas, won Iowa with 28 percent. Many pundits had predicted Rubio would struggle to get much above 15 percent to 20 percent in the state. Rubio struck a triumphant tone in his post-caucus speech. “This is the moment they said would never happen,” he said, adding that the people of Iowa had “sent a very clear message.” On Wednesday, though, he gave a cautious outlook on his prospects in New Hampshire and beyond. Rubio said he was leaving his fate in the Republican U.S. presidential primary contests in God’s hands, and added that he hoped his children would be proud of him “no matter how this turns out.” “I just want to do as well as we possibly can here in New Hampshire,” Rubio told reporters. After emerging as the leading “establishment” candidate competing with Trump and Cruz, Rubio faces high stakes in New Hampshire. His elevated stature in the race has given his rivals added incentive to attack him. Some voters in the state seemed to be warming to him. Grace Freije, 63, of Bow, New Hampshire, said she had decided to support Rubio after gravitating earlier toward Christie. Steve McMahon, 65, said the same. “He’s not a divisive person,” McMahon said. “This guy’s got the best shot at winning.” (Reporting By Emily Flitter; Editing by Caren Bohan and Jonathan Oatis) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters’ editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage.
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WATCH As A Trump Advisor Has A HISSY FIT When Asked About White Supremacist Supporters By Andrew Bradford
Maybe you’ve noticed that in recent weeks the people who advise and speak on behalf of the Donald Trump campaign seem to be more angry and defensive than usual. No doubt that has something to do with the fact that they realize their candidate is about to lose badly on Election Day.
The perfect example of this was provided last night by Trump senior advisor AJ Delgado, who was appearing with GOP strategist Rick Wilson, who is supporting third-party candidate Evan McMullin. When host Chris Hayes mentioned Trump’s ties to white supremacists, Delgado got very agitated and said she was offended by the accusation. Hayes replied : “I just want to distinguish between two claims. If you’re a Trump supporter you’re there for a racist or white supremacist which I would never say and don’t think Rick would say. The people out there that are racist and white supremacist, they’re overwhelmingly and publicly supporting Donald Trump.”
Delgado yelled: “That’s not true!”
Wilson then joined the conversation, telling Delgado: “AJ, it is true. The people on the white supremacists alt-right movement in this country flock to Donald Trump.”
Later in the debate, Delgado claimed that the average voter doesn’t care about Trump’s support from white supremacists such as David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Wilson let Delgado have it for that comment: “This is a guy who is feeding these people with a nod and a wink every single day. A guy who constantly denigrates women, Muslims, minorities in a host of different ways. I’m not saying every person who supports Donald Trump is a racist, that’s absurd. Every racist you turn over — every time you turn over a rock and find a racist, they have a red MAGA hat on. There is not a — there’s not a coincidence here.”
Exactly! Trump has been playing footsie with neo-Nazis, the KKK, and other white supremacist/white nationalist groups since he started his campaign. For him or anyone who supports him to now appear offended when someone makes that connection is not only disingenuous, it’s downright ludicrous. As the old saying goes, If you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas.
Featured Image Via YouTube Screengrab About Andrew Bradford
Andrew Bradford is a single father who lives in Atlanta. A member of the Christian Left, he has worked in the fields of academia, journalism, and political consulting. His passions are art, music, food, and literature. He believes in equal rights and justice for all. To see what else he likes to write about, check out his blog at Deepleftfield.info. Connect
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Democrats are about to welcome another voice into their big tent after Republicans in Hawaii decided their tent wasn t small enough.In January, Hawaii state Rep. Beth Fukumoto attended the Women s March in protest of Donald Trump. As an American, Fukumoto has every right to exercise her freedom of speech and right to protest.But Republicans in the state decided that a woman s place is not in the Republican Party if she won t submit to Trump.So they stripped Fukumoto of her leadership position in the statehouse and tried to force her to resign simply because she criticized Trump.Republicans also condemned Fukumoto because she dared to work with Democrats on legislation to benefit the people of Hawaii.Fukumoto refused to be bullied by her sexist and racist colleagues and continued to represent her constituents. And now, after a couple months of thought, Fukumoto has decided to ditch the GOP to become a Democrat. When I joined the Republican Party eight years ago, I did so with a group of people my age who were full of hope, ideas and energy, Fukumoto said. I discovered that it wasn t just me and my Republican friends trying to change the status quo. There were good Democrats trying to change things too. So we started working together. But, in doing so, I ran into Republican partisanship that insisted I stop working with Democrats even when it clearly benefited our community. In a video explaining her decision, Fukumoto said that some constituents think she should stick it out in the GOP and be a voice of opposition from within. However, she would rather join the Democrats and actually get things done. I want to be productive, she said. I could stay. I could continue to criticize. I could be that voice of opposition, but what good does that do for the people of Hawaii, and what good does that do for my district? I think there s a much better opportunity that if I disagree with what the Republican Party is doing, to be able to work productively as a Democrat to offer a different solution, so that s what I m announcing today. Here s the video via KHON2.Indeed, what s the point of staying in a party that hates you? Ultimately, Fukumoto made the best decision by joining a party that actually appreciates her voice and ideas. Meanwhile, Republicans only have themselves to blame because they are so blinded by their loyalty to Trump that they literally let a woman who wanted to be part of the party s future become part of the Democratic Party instead.Once again, Republicans clearly demonstrated that women, especially women who criticize Trump, are not welcome in their party.Featured Image: Screenshot
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The protesters in NYC must be confused They yelled tax the rich, not working people . Aren t the rich working people too? Many of the rich worked like crazy to be where they are today. Also, the rich pay plenty in taxes already. Don t you love how these people don t want anyone to be successful but want them to give away their hard-earned money?Dozens of protesters yelling shame gathered across the street from Cipriani on East 42nd Street early Saturday where President Trump was to attend a breakfast fundraiser. Members of SEIU aka Obama s Purple Army were out in force doing what they ve been trained to do PROTESTPresidential motorcade departs Cipriani earlier today. We will have the story later on @NY1. pic.twitter.com/uw6kWHdmH0 Shannan Ferry (@ShannanFerry) December 2, 2017 New York hates Trump, several protesters shouted. I believe it s time to stop lining the pockets of the rich and stealing from the poor, said John Eng, a 54-year-old real estate agent from Manhattan who was holding a sign declaring, The poor will have to eat the rich. The protesters were particularly enraged by the Senate s early-morning passage of a $1.2 trillion tax reform bill supported by Trump. A few shouted Kill the bill, don t kill us. That tax plan is an abomination, said Melissa Carpenter, a 51-year-old lawyer from Bayside who wore a Guy Fawkes mask for the occasion. He has some balls to come here. Read more NYP
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will propose in his upcoming budget measures to help more than 30 million Americans save for retirement, such as automatically enrolling workers in Individual Retirement Accounts and making it easier for workers to keep savings when they switch jobs, according to the country’s labor secretary. Labor Secretary Tom Perez unveiled parts of the plan on Monday before heading to California’s Silicon Valley to meet with venture capitalists and technology executives about bolstering retirement savings. Obama will present a spending plan Feb. 9 to Congress that serves as an outline of political priorities but very rarely comes to fruition. This budget, proposed in the final year of Obama’s presidency, is expected to hit a dead end. The proposal would also allow smaller employers to create pooled 401(k) plans. The U.S. workplace is undergoing a transformation, especially with the rise of the “on-demand” economy, which will lead workers to change jobs more frequently and face new challenges in saving for retirement, Perez said. Up-and-coming companies that provide goods and services on demand through phone apps mostly rely on freelancers who are not tied to jobs and traditional employer-sponsored retirement accounts. Perez said the IRA suggestion, which has been offered in Obama’s previous budgets dating back to 2010, may have a chance. States have recently created similar programs and fueled some employers’ interest in a national plan, he said. In a traditional IRA, investors only pay taxes when they retire and cash in holdings. In a “Roth” IRA, they pay taxes on the money they contribute but not when they withdraw funds for retirement. Under Obama’s proposal, employers with more than 10 workers that do not offer retirement plans would have to automatically enroll workers in IRAs. Perez said the department received hundreds of thousands of comments on another effort related to retirement - a “fiduciary” standard that would require brokers offering retirement advice to put clients’ financial interests first. He said he expects the final rule to be released in upcoming months. The fiduciary standard has roiled the financial services industry for half a decade, and the department had to withdraw an initial draft of the rule in 2011. It is intended to end potential conflicts of interest and protect consumers from being sold investment products that do more to line their brokers’ pockets than meet their financial needs. (This version of the story corrects to delete erroneous reference to MyRA in seventh paragraph)
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21st Century Wire says A request by Native American tribes seeking to halt the construction of the final link in the highly politicized and controversial Dakota Access Pipeline has been declined by a federal judge in Washington DC.The tribes at Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux were not successful in claiming that the project will prevent them from conducting religious ceremonies at Oahe Lake but District Court Judge James Boasberg declined their request citing no imminent harm to the tribes practices could be shown.As noted by RT and AP below, the project is headed up by Energy Transfer Partners, who s representatives argued that this halt in construction request over the issue of preventing tribes religious ceremonies was exceedingly tardy and not construction related. The denial of this request is not coming as a surprise to many who are well aware that the DAPL project was more than 90% complete back when Obama signed a temporary hold on the project, which could have been largely a political move, leaving this issue for the Trump administration to handle. RTA federal judge in Washington, DC has dismissed a request by a group of Native American tribes seeking to stop construction of the final link of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes claimed the project will prevent them from practicing religious ceremonies at Oahe Lake which they say is surrounded by sacred ground. District Court Judge James Boasberg stated there was no imminent harm to the tribes religious practices as oil is not flowing through the pipeline yet.The ruling will allow Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the $3.8 billion, 1,170 mile pipeline, to finish the final 1,100ft (335m) connection under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, completing the project.The company s stock rose 0.3 percent after the announcement, according to Seeking Alpha.Boasberg will more thoroughly consider the request at a February 27 hearing, AP reported.The US Army Corp of Engineers filed documents favoring Energy Transfer Partners, having granted the final easement for DAPL last Tuesday. The Corps said that the tribes will have plenty of time to argue their case before the pipeline begins working, thus a work stoppage wasn t warranted.Energy Transfer Partners had argued that the tribes argument that the work threatened their religion was exceedingly tardy and not construction-related, AP reported.The decision allows construction on DAPL to continue while the lawsuits against the project to proceed.Boasberg previously rejected a request by tribes to block the project in September. However, that ruling was superseded by the Obama administration s decision in December to delay construction, pending an environmental review.However, one of President Donald Trump s first acts in office was to sign a presidential memoranda ordering the removal of obstacles to the construction of both the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Continue this report at RTREAD MORE DAPL NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire DAPL FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV
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